Saturday, December 5, 2009

I Lost my Job! Again!!!

For the 2nd time in my life, I lost my job. This time it was easier than the last time. The last time I was recently divorced and that made it more difficult.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

New Office

Moving into a new office is fun, it's worrisome, and it's getting lost more than a few times.

The fun comes in having something new to look forward to and the fun of playing in new space, full of promise and renewal. Promise and renewal come from a new office seen as a fresh start, a re-commitment to your work ethic. An examination of what you do and why you do it.

The worrisome part is not knowing what you are going to get until you arrive on that first day. Will your office be decent? Will it be as nice as your peers? What about new furniture? Will everything you packed arrive? Will it arrive in good shape?

Getting lost is to be expected. Personally, I couldn't find the men's room after the first morning, and it had not been moved. I took a wrong turn getting out of the complex on day 1. I missed the office parking lot on day 2.

All in all, it's been fun, it's been a needless worry, and getting lost is part of the experience. I like my new office space and will work hard in it!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Happy Birthday Darling Daughter

Today is my daughter's Birthday. I wish I could be with her and the family to celebrate, but that will have to wait another week or so when I am next in town to visit. I am reminded of many things about her, things that really started the day she was born. I was the first non-medical person to hold her, and I thought she was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. I still feel that way. She was a perfect bundle of Joy! She is now a mature woman with a wonderful husband and two beautiful and delightful children, my grandchildren! I have had the good fortune to watch my daughter grow and mature. During that time, many memories have been stored away in my mind, all good memories of a wonderful daughter.



She has always loved animals. She loved loved her dog, Max, and he loved her. Max was definitely her dog. In fact, when Max was around he would become agitated and bark whenever someone hollered at his mistress, or he felt she was being threatened or in some kind of danger. Once, when my daughter was a toddler, she wondered toward the street. Max, ever watchful, moved next to her and bumped her so she fell on the patch of grass immediately before the street. She fell onto her diapered bottom and was none the worse for her fall. Max then stood over her so she could not get up and move off. She laughed and smiled at Max thinking this was a new game. She could do whatever she wanted to him and he would just sit there as she crawled over him. It was hard for us to put Max down as he reached old age and became ill. After all, he was her dog. Today, she has a golden retriever and a cat, Dewey and Shadow respectively. She would have a house full of dogs and cats and God knows what else, if she could get her husband to agree.

My daughter was always a good student. She came home from Kindergarten and had completed all the exercises in her book. She was disappointed to learn that there was no "new " book the next day. The book she had completed was for the year! She always did well in school and during her Junior year of High School, she announced that she was quitting school to go to college. She applied to 3 schools as I recall, was accepted at all of them and settled into an Honors Program. I was worried that if she ever left college, she would have no high school diploma and no degree. But, she graduated in 4 years with a double major, and earned her High School diploma based on her successful Freshman Year.

My daughter was always independent. It seemed that nothing stopped her from getting what she wanted, or keeping what she had. Many years after her graduation from college, she related a story about her being arrested for possession of alcohol by a minor. It seems she was holding a beer in a local bar and an agent from the ABC saw her and wrote her up. She lost her driver's license for 6 months. As she was telling the story, I remarked that I don't recall her ever not driving her car. She told me, "Dad, they took my license, not my car." That was, and is, so like her.

My daughter is a wonderful dancer, having started Ballet lessons when she was 5. She loved it and she was fortunate to have a very good and dedicated instructor. She eventually made it to dancing on point, toeshoes! She danced beautifully and I have the video of her performances to prove it.

Today, she is a mother and wife and career woman. She manages all that and still has time to talk with me once in a while. I always cherish the time we can spend together because memories come from those times. I am very lucky to have such a wonderful daughter. My Darling Daughter!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

My Best Buddy!

Ever since my grandson was born, almost 6 years ago, I have had My Best Buddy! He is a typical boy with an unbounded interest in everything around him. Don't get me wrong, he can easily be distracted by other things going on. For example, he was playing in a T-Ball league this summer and while in the field, he could be noticed looking around at anything going on outside the lines. He doesn't miss much. When his father takes on a job around the house, my grandson pitches in to help. He approaches everything with the bright, clear mind of a child. Once his father was doing some yard work wearing work gloves. My grandson needed gloves too, but was quite content to wear a pair of his winter gloves. He knew that working with his father was the important thing, not the appropriateness of his gloves. Of course, that will change as he gets older, but for now he really gets the important things - in this case, helping his Dad.

When I spend the night at my daughter's, I always remind my grandson to please wake me up in the morning, and he always does. His bright smile makes my day as he whispers, "Pop-Pop get up!" or as he pokes me gently. Then he usually climbs into bed with me and we talk for a few minutes. With a jump, he is up and out of bed announcing that it is time for "us" to shave. All he does is watch me as I lather my face and use the razor. I wouldn't trade these moments for anything. Some days we go to breakfast with his mother, father and sister. My grandson rides with me and we "race" to see who gets to the restaurant first. He watches for all the red lights and tells me when to stop and when to go. At breakfast, he fixes my coffee by adding the sweetener and the milk. He stirs the coffee and then asks me to tell him if it is good. He is ready to add more sweetener or milk if I tell him the coffee isn't good yet.

My grandson loves to run, literally. He runs in the backyard, around the house, anywhere that running is appropriate. He always greets me with a smile and a hug.

And, when I speak with him on the phone, he always asks me if I am coming to his house today. Unfortunately, I live about 2 and 1/2 hours away by car. So seeing him is not as often as I would like. But, when I do see him, it makes my day. Thank God I have my grandson, My Best Buddy!

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Family

No doubt, family is the greatest joy and asset I have. However, contrary to what Mama Corleone told Michael in The Godfather II, you can lose your family through death, divorce and estrangement. I lost my father this year. His memory is sometimes vivid, and I find myself at times thinking about what he said or how he would react. Like many I have gone through divorce. And, I am experiencing estrangement from an important family member. Estrangment, for me, is the hardest loss to deal with. The estranged is still alive (Thank God!) and still accessable. That is what makes it tough. How do I access them? A birthday card and a Christmas gift are the only access these days. There is no reciprication. There is hope that some day this estrangement will resolve, and we can be connected again. Until that time, all I can do is wait and think and evaluate what I have done, and what I might do next. If there is more, I am not aware of it. Perhaps someone else in my family will give me an insight. Offsetting these losses is the joy of family! My grandchildren offer in their beautiful smiles and their joy of life the hope that all is truly right in the world - at least in their world. And, I can escape into that world of theirs being led by those tiny hands. There really isn't anything like that. Not for me.

Friday, January 9, 2009

What's this about?

Blogging. I don't know what to say about blogging. It gives us a chance to write down whatever. Some folks have been doing it a long time. Others, like me, have just started doing it. Actually, I am motivated by my daughters blog, which I first read today (it's only a few days old). I didn't know she wrote so well. I will post her blog's url here if I get her permission. I guess the money spent on her education included some time spent in composition and grammer. Blogging is a formal process that takes our thoughts, ideas, etc. and puts them into words potentially seen by everyone. In my mind it is like a personal editorial page. I can editorialize on any subject I want. Now, that sounds like a really good thing. Of course, there is the need to have a subject to write about. Let me see...subjects. I have a lot to choose from: current events from politics, local news, sports, television, theater, movies, to family and friends, special occassions, driving in NJ, airport security, and the like. The preceeding is just a minute number of topics. I'll have to pick one, or another not listed, and get on it. So, that's what blogging is all about. Picking and writing. I contend that in the process of picking and writing, I am thinking, so I am true to the title of my blog. Actually, I will have to pick something, think about it and write, excuse me, blog about it! But now it is time to go home and see what adventures await on the Jersey highways this Friday afternoon. Hooray, I'm a blogger!