This is a link to Ben Folds. We're going to his concert  tonight.  This was the first concert that Grace and T.J. attended.  We loved it and their were lots of families there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=379V1IhrB2I&feature=related

Real Concert, I should say. We did take them to see Vanessa Carlton.  She was a great young singer who played incredible piano.  I thought she was great for the kids. She had studied classical ballet, grew up in New York City, learned piano from a very young age.  Her plan was to be  ballerina, but somewhere along the way she realized that she loved piano and loved to sing....that's how she began!  We all enjoyed that her dad had been pretty cool and taught her to play songs like "painted black" on the piano when she was younger.  She had her own take on those old songs.  The only bad part....for our middle school children(6th and 7th grade), she cursed a bit!                .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cwkej79U3ek

TONITE!  So happy to see Ben Folds. It's a great night planned with the kids...and for the kids. We realized last yer how great it was to do something that we all loved.  One thing for sure...we all have a passion for music!  Biff and I have always shared our love of music...and grew to appreciate each others' and learn to appreciate and have an open mind to all different music.

It's April and I am reminded today of the fun we had on Earth Day while we lived in Boston.  A great city for diverse college students, they always planned great concerts in the famous Boston Pops Orchestra on the Esplanade.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E51cmyZmwdA
We saw some unbeatable bands of all kinds.  Our babies danced to some of the new and most on the cusp.  For Biff and I, it was exciting just to get out and her more than Raffi.
http://sz0071.wc.mail.comcast.net/zimbra/mail#4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E51cmyZmwdA

It does seem like we have chosen music awareness and to give our kids exposure has really been  priority. It's one of those things that has been important in our lives...and it has just come to be for our children.  Nature vs. nurture? We have always tried to open them up to different worlds.  Music is big.

Although, we have opened the door to many music venues, our kids have not chosen to push the door open! My grandma was a wonderful pianist. Just like my grandmother's high hopes for my mom, my mom had high hopes for me...just as my mom had high hopes for me, I had high hopes for Grace and possibly T.J.

After my grandma, the gene pool must have cannon balled.  Mom had no desire due to a terrifying teacher.  Although my teacher wasn't terrifying, he did smell like garlic!  I lived in a terrified state....every Friday night on the way to my lesson!  Terrified because I hadn't practiced enough.

Then, my mom gave us my piano!  It was time for Grace to take lessons.  She was thrilled!  She had the gene.  Grace was great and had a great understanding.  The teacher was a bit odd ...and understatement.  Grace did very well and had a recital and some play at the nursing home for Christmas. Biff and I were so proud.  We should have listened to our own little girl better...the teacher was a bad fit. We found out too late!

We attempted to have her taught by a friend who really knew how to teach!  It never really worked...Grace had lost her enthusiasm.  I still dream that she may find it on her own one day....if it's something that she cares about!

T.J. took the trumpet....even though I mixed it up and brought home a trombone for him!  oops.  He took trumpet for 2 years and loved it....until he didn't!  When his teacher had a bit of  temper tantrum in the class...T.J. looked at his trumpet time as  risk to his life!  And that was that.  Career over.

Our kids just love it and appreciate music. Is that enough?  I guess they'll let us know....All we can do is share the joy of music.

 From a Christmas concert at the chapel at B.U. to South Shore Conservatory of Music
http://www.sscmusic.org/preschool_hingham.html
....mommy and me
music classes....pre-school at the Conservatory to St. Patrick's Cathedral....marching bands...parades....school talent shows and concerts ....weddings....bagpipes at funerals.....playing instruments like the violin and the trumpet and the piano and the recorder....they'll find their own way! Even if it's only to relax or tap their toes!

By the way, I left music on for Daisy and Fitzy when we left tonight for the concert...."Through  A Dog's Ear"...http://www.throughadogsear.com/....
I bought this book with  c.d. for the dogs.  There have been studies to show that certain rythyms and tones do  allow the dogs to calm... calm...and relax.

The kids thought it was crazy to have music for the dogs.  To me, it seems natural...why not give it a try.  After all, Fitzy has some sort of separation anxiety...this music has offered her quiet and peace and calm.  DO they have a c.d. like that for us?

I do know that it's a wonderful thing to share music.

WE ALL HAD A GREAT TIME TONIGHT!

Smell.  Different than the septic that I've been writing about.......it's and amazing thing...these noses we wear!  The sense of smell is one of the greatest triggers of  memory.  Don't worry...I'm not going THERE!

Last night, a text arrived in my "in box" on my cell phone. It read,"So random, but I was doing laundry and when I took out my sheets/towels out of the dryer the smell reminded me of when you lived in Massachusetts. Weird, right?" Wow!  That was 10-14 years ago...she was just a little girl visiting us.  It's the little things. We never know what we give to someone!

One of the things that is indescribable....how can we know what memories we're "giving"??  Sometimes, with our children, I feel that's all we can give them.  All of these days and months and years....in a minute, they're just a memory!  We can only hope we're "giving" special memories.  Sweet memories.

Moments.  That's what we get!  It is the moments that count. Everyday, I try to make my best....my day and how I handle my day affects all of us.  Some days are more reactive than I'd like. Some days, I have to demand more of others in our home than I'd like.  Some days are Kodak moments! Some days are less than lovely.  All I can do is be accountable for my own behavior.....and give the best that I have to give.  That's that.  Some days are better than others.  Gratefully, Biff and I are pretty steady.....in our style.  Pretty steady in our day....ups, downs and in betweens....we do our best to keep even keel....

That's just one of those things.  It happens.  Every once in awhile....it's so real.  Out of the blue. *Poof*...we're in another time and space. Instant memory!

Text from the same niece while she was in college,"Christopher Morley Sky". At Christopher Morley Park, ice skating at the end of the season, I would always point out the colors in the sky....that came to be known by biff, Claire and I as the "Christopher Morley Sky."

I received the text on a Sunday night...on the way home from the grocery store.  I read the text and looked up at the sky.It was breathtaking!  Claire, in college at the time, was sitting at her desk studying.....she looked up and that's the memory. It's the little things.  It always is.

One of the most special moments I had with Grace recently.....
I was cleaning Grace and T.J's birthday one afternoon and as I scrubbed and scoured, I thought of my mom's pretty bathrooms.  No matter where she lived, no matter the size or shape of the bathroom, my mom had little pretty soaps, matching hand towels, hand creams and glamorous body powders.  She enjoyed the lovely bits of life.  A fluffy soft towel.  A beautiful bath mat. A voluptuous and soft bathroom rug. A mirror, Clinique make up, Revlon lipstick called, "Love That Pink", Noxema, Jergens Lotion, Chloe' body Powder, Chanel No. 5, little leather case filled with nail scissors and nail file, a Kleenex box that coordinated nicely.....and a plant or two.  The little things!  Tucked away or on display. The little things.

I called out while I scrubbed, "Grace....remember Gramma's pretty bathrooms??" with a sweet question mark in my voice?  While I had been cleaning, remembering the pleasure she took in the little things....and Grace called back, "YES! I LOVED GRAMMA"S TOILET PAPER!"  I laughed until I cried...those sweet tears while remembering my mom.

I laughed and called to Grace, "Gramma would be so happy to know that you loved her toilet paper!"  It was true. Pleasure in the little things.  My mom listened to her dad.  Always the best. Life had it's ups and downs, but  Gramma always had the nicest toilet paper!  It's the little things!

We never know the memories we're making.  It's the little things!  Even though our kids are young teens now, I still buy bubbles and chalk in the spring time.   After picking the kids up with a friend the other day, Grace and her friend opened the jar of bubbles and began blowing through the bubble wand."You always have the fun toys and stuff!"...and the bubbles blew out the car window as we drove home.  It's the little things.  It's all  memory.

The little things.The moments.That's what I remember.

"Pay It Forward" sounds good to me.  Not doing good deeds and passing it on....paying it forward.....like the movie.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwHcS-XoYbc  Getting all caught up and head of myself....then giving up....just for a day!  That would allow one day to take a moment...the next day, i wouldn't have to fall behind and catch up!

Did anyone understand that?  Patti, a friend since college, had an expression, "I'm so far behind, I think I'm first!" It's a great line for me because I'm so visual.

When Patti was studying for finals and writing a paper, we found her tucked away in her room, behind closed doors....very quiet.  When we entered the sanctuary, where usually we found magazines and Mary Tyler Moore on T.V....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwC361O13gk
.....we found Patti....ever diligent....working at her desk that was usually strewn with monogrammed sweaters co-mingled with fair isle sweaters and Irish cables!

We, her loving and loyal friends, burst out laughing!  Bent over and howling like hyenas, we distracted her from her work and she seemed preoccupied while holding her.......crayon! A crayon!  Not our Patti?

What on earth could that have to do with her intense psychology paper?  That's when we realized that our frenzied friend had been writing her giant loopy letters on construction paper with crayons.  Crayons and construction paper?  Patti was no Education major.  Patti was no art major.  We were puzzled....

That's when she told us to look up above.  Not to heaven but to the wall above her desk!  We all stood in a row.  We were still recovering from seeing her so involved in her own world.....we looked up and saw...she certainly was motivated!

Her note to self, "You jerk! Get working!".....and that's about where I am this week.  It was one week ago Monday night that our septic issue began....one week ago today that our septic combined with flooding became our problem....in our basement.
Unpleasant as it has been, I'm still grateful.  At worst, it's been unpleasant...very unpleasant....maybe inconvenient...a bit.

Lots of work for all of us.  Lots of disruption. Lots of loss.  Lots of stress. No hot water. No showers unless we enjoyed the generous offer by our neighbors.

That's that.  I'd love to quit.  I can't.  I live here.  Our house is upside down.  Our lives are upside down.  The clean up crew had us on the calendar for Monday.....not!  Then, today....not!  Tomorrow, we expect them to arrive for real.  They have delivered a dumpster....that's a start!  Now we are the proud, but temporary caretakers of 2 dumpsters!

A dumpster in the driveway is the greatest and most coveted addition to any driveway.  Some may be  awestruck by a new B.M.W., a great vintage car or  fine sports car, but here in our Connecticut world, it's the great American dumpster. "A chicken in the pot and a car in every garage"
http://www.presidentsusa.net/1928slogan.html

Winston Churchill once said, "Never, never, never give up!"
http://www.quotesdaddy.com/quote/280669/Winston+Churchill/never-never-never-never-give-up
I guess.

This is a link to the review of the new Preppy Handbook that is coming out very soon.  It all began with Lisa Birnbach.  What great fun she had writing that book and what a hoot is was for all for us when we saw ourselves in there!
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/books/04preppy.html

We live in Connecticut, so I see it and live it everyday.  As I see it, there are many varieties of the prep life!  Many.  The prep life seems to play out in many worlds, in many styles in all of the places where I have lived....and growing up, I may have had the greatest of all!  Same for Biff.

As I see it, we lived it.  We lived it everyday and we didn't even know it.  Our parents didn't have to work at it.  They didn't have to try to achieve it by looking it up in the preppy handbook or climbing the ladder to reach someone's perception of what the life was.  They just were and that was that.

Our parents didn't select our lifestyle...they just moved along to the right place for them...where they knew to be.  To convert an overused expression, "it was what it was"...and that's that.  They may have gone to boarding schools or had the opportunity to go to boarding schools but that's not what made them who they were.  They knew what they new.

I suppose in life, there will always be "posers", a term I've just learned in the last few months.  There will always be people "who are striving", as my mom used to say.  It seems the folks who live a certain lifestyle are always clear on the "posers" and those who "are striving" or my words, they're simply trying too hard!

They're easy to spot...like members of a club know their own, the ones who work at it stick out like a sore thumb....or they're screaming to be noticed as the ultimate whatever. Prep, Old Money, even Goth, as the kids tell us.  We have them of colors, creed in every size shape and neighborhood.  Everywhere.  Usually, not blog related, they're followers. Even in the "hood" as we used to say.  Our kids laugh, they say "gangsta".  Whatever...whoever...they're all out there!

We see some who can only wear designer labels....as my mom used to say,"they're throwing up labels...." even if it was Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci and Calvin Klein!  How right that woman was....the old school New England Yankee that she was!

Why?  Everybody wants to belong.  Especially when they have no clear cut answer to belonging.  Hence, working at it...there were probably cavemen who worked at having the ultimate deerskin........whatever...maybe the cave location was their thing.  "It is was it is and it was what it was!"

So, here we are in Connecticut....surrounded by preps who just are.... don't even know it....don't work at it...don't even wear
Lilly Pulitzer.
http://www.lillypulitzer.com/page/home?gclid=CMH16si08aACFWV75QodAWaXHw
We have the old school professorial types who have been educated in the best schools and follow on to teach at the best schools....of course the best schools are prep.  They have lived and educated life. Education began with those who had...those who could afford the best and to those who desired the education to better themselves and their children.

It's not always about the money. Many have had and lost, recovered or not....it's simply what they know.  It doesn't matter to them...for climbing or social status....it's all they know even if in degrees.  It's real not found.

We just spent the weekend with family. We were down visiting and thought it would be fun to show the kids where we used to live and all of the people who they've heard me talk about...or at least where they lived....if they haven't moved.  It was a  charmed life in many ways.  That's another story.

We lived on the North Shore of Long Island, The Gold Coast.  We were blessed to live a very nice life.  We were surrounded by other families  of similar "worlds" with similar values.  It's no wonder.

Family was a priority.  Schools were a priority.  Church was a priority.  Beach was a priority. The Preppy Handbook was not a priority but we lived it....from the station wagon

to the country club to the beach house and the beach club

....the traditional clothing of quality and all natural fibers....the cocktail parties hosted by friends of the family...the train station...the colleges our brothers and sisters attended....our homes well decorated and barbeques....penny loafers, docksiders

and madras...sand in our shoes....chesterfield coats and so much more.

My dapper dad wore a handsome Derby and a straw Boater from Memorial Day to Labor Day with a replacement in the middle of summer due to newspaper print along the way. It's just the way it was.  Life was good despite the lack of books and blogs to call the shots.

Biff had much of the same. As noted yesterday, as we watched the Easter Old Fashioned Car Parade, we even had the same station wagon.  Biff lived further up in the country...with a family who lived a parallel life of goodness with trips to the Adirondacks and Historical Landmarks.....lots of family gatherings and fun. He was at boarding school while I was in private local schools.

Old School families with plain old fashioned values.  Biff's family greeted the Mayflower while mine arrived at Ellis Island or popped in  by way of Boston rather than Plymouth Rock. I guess if my family came from Ireland and chose to be "posers" or worked too hard at being dressed like the pilgrims, it might have been the same as a phony baloney prep!

We both grew up living lives of simplicity yet abundance and no one to guide us or comment in a handbook.  It was unspoken.  To speak of it would be "rude, crude and socially unacceptable", as some I know would say.

Over the weekend, the "prep" clothing was everywhere and certainly much of the same, but the people were new.  The people were not the same homogeneous ones we knew once upon a time.  New people have replaced the Old Guard just as many condos have replaced old estates....of
the Whitney's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhasset,_New_York,
the Grace's  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhasset,_New_York,
 or the Payne's.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Whitney_Payson
Much of the old has been replaced with the new and more of it.  Conspicuous consumption is what seems to be prevalent these days.....and then some of the classics remain.  They were evident by there demeanor.  There may be still be wealth and their may still be prep but much of it has been acquired only in presentation....thanks to Ralph Lipshitz (Ralph Lauren)
http://www.ralphlauren.com/frontdoor/index.jsp and Martha Kostyra (Martha Stewart)
http://www1.macys.com/catalog/index.ognc?CategoryID=45253&PageID=194364335451591
and Brooks Brothers expansion across America
http://www.brooksbrothers.com/
and Tiffany and Company's accessibility in Malls throughout the world
http://www.tiffany.com/?siteid=1&omcid=G37969&iq_id=13379080&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=01%2BBranded%2BNew%2B-%2BExact&utm_term=13379080-tiffany
or J.Crewhttp://www.jcrew.com/AST/Browse/WomenBrowse/Women_Feature_Assortment/jcrewcollection.js
What happened to
Best and Company Children's Clothing?
http://www.bestandcompany.com/
...really what happened to the way children used to dress?  that's another topic.....life goes on...change is good for us all.....
 What happened to BonwitTeller?
http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/d/dhhcc/bios/bonwitteller.html

Much of the "preppy lifestyle" has been created....we see the look....we know the look... which is just fine. It's not the right dog or the right car or the right vacation spot. It can't be defined so clearly. To a discerning eye, it is very clear who are the old school "preppies." That word tickles Biff and I...we laugh when we see stores or hair salons named," A Touch of Class because they always seem to state the obvious....they have none.

Visiting "home", it still is a wonderful place....to educate...to live....to beach...to sail and more.  Most people are still very nice.  They don't know.  It's like our little secret.  It's the secret of the old school...the way life was...the families....the life...the connection of the good life as it used to be...before the Preppy Handbook.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/05/the-preppy-handbook-updat_n_525353.html

The families who have lived to see the next generation and the next generation live in the place that had an understated life of abundance...sensible with Puritan beliefs for some....quiet money was key...still is....sshhhhhhh. 

It's not about the haves and the have nots....it's not about what one wears to validate their "preppiness"...it can't be acquired. It is or it isn't. It's there or it's not.  Quiet. Shhhhhhhh. It's not what you have....it's not necessarily where you have it.  It just is.

So, there we stood, in a wonderful place to have a childhood, a family, a community, a place of many friends....our kids said it was like a Disney movie town.  It was better. It was. And I saw the old faces...and I visited the old friends who we knew all of our lives.....they welcomed us "home"....and into their "preppy" houses, with "preppy" drapes and shoes and cars and kitchens and photos and families...and we didn't care what polo player or Golden Fleece adorned their polo shirt,

button down or sweater.  We were just delighted to be welcomed by someone who knew....someone who knew us....and our families...and our lives....they have always loved us...then and now. It was nice to be welcomed and not judged....and the cashmere hug was wonderful and familiar.

Would you like to check out my e-bay?  Here's the link....I have so much more merchandise to list....it's all great stuff.  I've been busy with lots of "mixups" lately....SURPRISE!

http://stores.ebay.com/littlemarymixup?_rdc=1

I missed you...hope everyone had a great weekend.  I'm too tired to upload my photos....stay tuned!  See ya soon.

I shall try to type this with the proper capital letters and some fine punctuation....oops...unless i feel like I need to use my dot dot dots as my breath when I'm talking!  This remedial  typing that needs work....typing with all of the proper capitals seem to make me really slow down and not tell my stories as I have to think so hard for my fingers hitting the right keys...at the right time...my rythym feels off!  got that?  got that my good old friend?......the friend who became my friend because she made me laugh, in the most horrible math class, with the most horrible teacher, who droned on and on....as if freshman algebra wasn't boring enough!!

She made me laugh so hard, that  I spent many   afternoons after school....with the horrible teacher....who we called "lurch"....only because he was just as creepy.  I had extracurricular boredom with lurch.

As I curse at they keyboard, I will think of my friend...perhaps even cursing her for suggesting capital letters...that take up more energy than my piano lessons.  oh! But of course, she played piano well too. And a great writer....who just wants capitals.

I'll give it a try....like that would really make people read this blathering blog! blah..blah..blah...blah..blahG!

Back to the blog, since I've given my greatest critic such a huge ego that I will have to hear all about it forever...even if I get one new follower....ONE! She will tell me, for the rest of our lives, that each new follower has stayed to read my blog because of HER capitals.  O.k., she is a LEO and I am a LEO....we do understand our lioness features....she knew she could get me....just by telling me proper capitalization would take my blog to the big time!  And how could we not be friends?  Our Leo egos... we have a mutual admiration society!  Leos know Leos....notice the capitals.



This is a friend who has been there through thick and thin, ups and downs, a very unpleasant math class and an even worse home ec class....as in becky home ecky.......and through it all, we've both been very grateful for the continuing goodness in our lives....and the hysterical laughter that we provide for each other....through good times and bad!  This is the friend  who everyone dreams of when they imagine a really great friend.

And how could it be possible for Leos to be friends?
Don't have the explanation. As a matter of fact, I'm surrounded by some great Leo friends...and a sister in law, another great Leo.  You would think that the Leo personalities would require others WITHOUT the Leo ego and leonine ways.......but, NO! We all feed off of each other and there are enough of us to keep us all seen and heard.....and praised!  And loving our highlights....only a Leo would have so much conversation about hair color, hair style, hair cut, shampoo, blow dryers.....and our claws, our nails....and our paws.  It's just what we do.  Not even obnoxious....to us.  It is not anything I can explain....it's a Leo thing.  If you know any, just listen....you'll start to notice your friend calling you in tears about a canceled hair color, cut appointment or a hairdresser's retirement.  They will care, like crazy, about their Lion's den at home....the color and comfort of course....and the quality! It's just crazy....to others....NOT to us!  I wish you all luck if you have Leo children.

By the way, I missed you yesterday.  We finally got out of this house with the septic troubles and the Connecticut flooding last week.  It was Easter...a weekend to visit family.  A great time to get out of town!  Literally, we left our "stinkin" home and headed to visit family....and stay at a hotel.

It was a rough week for many reasons.  Of course, the septic goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway.  I'm needy, can you tell?  It just stinks...for real.  The flooding combined with the septic could have put any family over the edge.  Have no fear, we are used to "mixups" of many varieties. Really, this was a walk through the park.  Biff was home and not out of town.  That might have put me over the edge.  Doing it together always keeps us on our toes...tippy toes in this case....tippy toes with big rubber boots.

We had a bit of an issue. It was a tad unpleasant last week.  More than a tad.  The last week was based on the book, "If you give a mouse a cookie",
http://www.amazon.com/You-Give-Mouse-Cookie-Give/dp/0060245867

the story we read over and over and over....is now read to us on you tube!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFKzriYtEt8

You see, we had the septic trouble Monday night. When we found the problem, we had to turn off the water.  No water to be used until the septic people arrive, Tuesday. No water for our showers. We adapt. One shower missed is just an inconvenience.

It was Monday night that we had to skip showers.  The rain began Monday afternoon. Tuesday morning we had no shower since the water was still off. That was inconvenient, but not a big deal. 

Tuesday morning the septic people were coming.  There was an appointment I had to get to. Life.  It would be fine.  All that I needed to do was leave the basement open for the guys.  That's when the flooding was noted.  That's when the boots went on. That's when I walked through about 5" of mook.  That's when I cried as I swished through the rising mook, cried and held my nose. There was no chance I could leave this house, the arc.

Septic guys arrived.  The work was done. The Haz-vak suits arrived to clean up.  Haz-vak guys could not open the door since the water was too deep.  The Haz-vac suits would leave and be back after the rain stopped. Whenever that might be.

That's when the water kept rising....4"...5"......6".....7"..................that's when Biff arrived home....after many updates en route.  That's when he proudly displayed the last sump pump on the Connecticut shoreline.  To "tide" us over until the Haz-vac guys come back. 

Biff starts our first sump pump of our homeowner life.  I may haul furniture..indoor/ outdoor.....paint furniture...indoor/outdoor.....paint the house....clean the house...design our landscaping.....work on the landscaping....pushing, rolling and lifting rocks.....much more than some women would even consider.  I had to draw the line at sump pump pride It just would not be. It did nothing for me.  The gag factor was too great!  This was the big league.  This was a Biff job....apology accepted, thankfully.

Tuesday night would have been the night for our showers....UNTIL the waters kept rising.....our oil burner motor burned out in the flooding.  The Has-Vat guys wouldn't be here.....til the sunshine....no shower Wednesday morning....no shower Wednesday night.....no shower Thursday morning....no shower Thursday night....no shower Friday morning....lots of gardening, lots of dirt, lots of rocks and rolling....my landscape world...with
Biff.


We were out of the house!  We considered this our date.  We were too exhausted to even go to a movie as a date.  Spring cleaning outdoors was just the thing.  Life. New Life. Easter weekend!


That's when our neighbors drove by.  That's when we discussed the week of rain and more rain and flooding and more flooding.  That's when we spoke of my sump pump hero. That's when I confessed my filth....although they noticed me gardening in my Lilly Pulitzer skirt....covered in dirt.  Oops.  That's when they offered their home for a shower!


AWKWARD. Very. .........................after so many days trying to lay low...with most of MY laundry caught in the flood, I was living in yoga pants!  Charming.  Truly.

Friends had offered their showers.  I kept hanging on to the hope it would all be resolved.  Saturday we would be leaving to see family...we were never so happy to stay in a hotel....just for the shower!  It was Friday. Biff had a few cold showers...he couldn't wear yoga pants to work!

Right then and there I caved....I would be over...for my first shower since the wacky week began. Our neighbor was the pastor of one of our local churches.  Awkward!

I got over it and guess what?  It was their guest bathroom....it was like a spa.  There children are older and have moved out on their own.  Bottles of shampoo, body gels, facial cleansers, bubble bath and 253 other bottles, empty and full ....no towels on the floor....were not on the scene.  I had found heaven....right across the street.

Clean!  I asked if I could shower at their spa every night....quiet....alone....peaceful....ZEN shower.

Saturday we left to see family.  It had been 2 years since I had been back home, to the town where I grew up.  Not since my mom's funeral.  Without going to that world....2 years. IT WAS WONDERFUL! 

The fun and family and hotel with the shower!  We got to the hotel just before midnight. We checked in, went to the room, settled in with a few trips to the bathroom.......and that's when the flooding began!  Fast and furious, the water began overflowing....and overflowing....it wouldn't stop.....we closed the door!  We called the desk!  We moved to a new room and started over.

BEEEEP>>>BEEEEEP>>>>BEEEP>>>BACK IT UP ......RIGHT HERE>>>>BACK UP>>>MORE>>>MORE>>>MORE>>>>STOP RIGHT HERE>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
DUMP IT HERE!!!!!!!

After church, on Easter Sunday....outside the church...with the family we had seen the night before.....we told our tale!  We all howled with laughter....it's following us!

Tomorrow the Haz-vac guys arrive!  Who knows what will happen next.  We know if there's somehow. Hopefully, we'll get a shower......before Memorial Day! 

i never got to tell you about daisy's birthday!

it was quite a busy day for me and i had lots of e-bay to send off at the post office.

  running around for hours and getting life stuff accomplished was very nice...but, i am a little kooky about birthdays, in general.  i just like to  make a birthday special...and festive...apparently, that's really for me.

and that's how daisy's little outing came to be.  we went to town..daisy and fitzy seemed thrilled to be out for a ride in the car....i imagined it was because of the birthday fun...but friends have gently reminded me that daisy and fitzy just thought they were going to the beach!  well, that's not what their imaginary thought balloons told me!

daisy, on her 8th birthday still is the sweetest, most gentle, intuitive dog in my world!  she loves us all and is here with us through thick and thin.  she's been to montessori, grammar schools, middle school, high school and  she attended fairfield university!  she was THE most popular girl on the quad!  she's well rounded....she has played t-ball, softball, soccer, lacrosse and certainly her best sport of all.....swimming and plain old catch! 

this is fitzy....i'd know that snoot anywhere!  fitzy is a dog with the need to repeatedly remind me that her need for love is great, very, very great!

i think of it as "love in your face!"

and i've decided, if it's love she needs so desperately, it's love she shall have.  she's so sweet and gentle and soft as a bunny....it's the gentle that's a challenge when there's a crumb in the vicinity...within 3 miles.  this is a dog who has a nose for trouble...or, i should say, barbeques.

i really do love fitz!  she makes me laugh.  she can be needy, i think it's separation anxiety....she lived with 4 kids under 6, in a crate a lot, for almost a year, then she lived with a day care provider who had a billion kids at her home everyday.  i just don't think she ever got enough golden love.  she has her marley moments and we love her anyway!  she needs love she craves.  as i always say, daisy came to the nursing home with me to visit my mom.....she stopped for lots of the elderly people and loved having them pet her and talk to her......fitzgerald, fitzy, so delighted to feel the love, she jumped right up on my mom...in bed.....it was shortly after we arrived back home, that the nursing home gave us a call to let us know that next time, it might be a good idea to leave the dogs home! daisy always came with me to "gramma's house".....fitzy went once and got us kicked out!

we went to town. daisy and fitz waited for me in the car while i carried my e-bay mail like a tacky circus act into the post office...before i could gather up the boxes and envelopes, there was a fan club at the car windows.  they always meet the nicest folks.

as we walked through town, daisy and fitz started a sit in at one of the restaurants....they could smell the garlic.  i humored them but continued on!

of course, fitzy held out the longest.  i told them if they had brought their own charge card, i might have considered it...after all, it was time for birthday fun!

we stopped in the back of the stores and walked near the pond so daisy and fitz could get some water....i think after smelling the garlic, they were thirsty...that's what their thought balloons said.

daisy is not used to having a leash, but she understands...that's the rules...in town!

"daised and confused"
as biff likes to call them.  as you can see, daisy is looking towards the water....so ready for a swim!  fitzy, however, is still standing attention toward the aroma!  she reminds me of the dogs in "the lady and the tramp"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WxDdz-Anls

the wafting smell has their attention....like the dog in the old cartoons...when he got a treat, the cartoon dog was so happy,he floated up in the air!

after some water and some play, we were off for a birthday treat!
they had no idea what i had in mind!

the surprise was the little pet store...with oven baked treats...like the bakery for dogs!

they had some water at the little "water bar".....
after slurping up a few gallons, they were sniffing up a storm...and ready for a bite to eat.

fitzy's nose was leading the way!

daisy was checking to see if she had any friends coming along...she's used to rather large gatherings for her birthday.

daisy is ready too!

fitzy makes way for daisy...the lights are on, but nobody's home....at the store, not fitzy!

heaven!

talking over their favorites...

daisy taking a whifffff of the possibilities...

we thought it would be fun to have a little fun with the birthday photo...right in front of the pet store.

and the sled dogs are off!  fitzy isn't as good on the leash...daisy is very good...but, she's always busy watching fitz!

we stood outside the movie theatre and tried to figure out if there might be a movie appropriate for all of us...there was a cat on line ahead of daisy and fitz.

they seem o.k. letting the kitty go ahead of them...they have excellent manners and do take good care of our cats, jinx and happy.

fitzy looking like she's seen some take-out....daisy being coy...

i think the kitty wanted to borrow some money ....some just have that attitude of entitlement!

if that kitty wants pop corn too, there's no way we're sharing!

just hangin'

does this look like a doggy that will share??
hold the popcorn.

o.k. now that's really something
for the birthday treat!
daisy and fitz had some fun...town, a treat, the movies...age appropriate....showing,
"marley and me"  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cedG470nTD8
"beethoven"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eHgKg36xsY,
or "cats and dogs" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7zjFUgDI

daisy had a great birthday