New Mexico: Day #2

On the way to Jon and Sarah’s place this morning, KC said, “Those are big mountains.”
“Uncle Jonny and Auntie Sarah will be taking you up there for a hike, KC,” said Tiffany.
KC thought about that. “Maybe we’ll fall off because it’s so tall,” KC said worriedly.
“You won’t fall, we’ll just walk,” reassured Tif.
“Maybe we need a ladder,” suggested KC.



The Sandia Foothills has a wonderful hiking trail that was easy and provided wonderful views of Albuquerque. Mungo had as much fun as KC investigating each plant along the way. I think Mungo has accepted that Art is as nice a human as his master even though he’s a man.



It was so much fun to see the desert flowers in bloom. Sarah said we really came at a great time because there were some good rains that really promoted lots of greening and flowering in the area.







KC has taken a real shine to Uncle Jonny and is constantly wanting to show him things. We’ve never seen her wanting to run so much as she has with Uncle Jonny.




After our walk and lunch at Jon and Sarah’s, we drove to Old Town Albuquerque. It reminded us of Santa Fe.

One of the highlights was our soft serve break.


Tiffany could not resist trying on a big New Mexican hat.


KC had fallen in love with smooth river rocks in Jon and Sarah’s backyard. At one of the shops, they were selling different kinds of colored stones.


KC was in heaven! She spent a LONG time selecting the pretty stones that she wanted to buy in her tiny bag. Tif bought a string of butterflies made of feathers for KC’s bedroom and I picked up a giant New Mexico mug.


Once we were done with Old Town, we went to a children’s park close by. Jon had a great time showing his dad how to use the outdoor exercise equipment around the park. I do believe father and son are still children at heart. Jon dared Art to try his strength at the monkey bars.


Yes, KC also had fun at the children’s park and ran about everywhere trying all the different playground equipment. Tiffany said she was impressed with the children of New Mexico. She said they were very, very polite and kind to KC.


After a delicious barbecue at Jon and Sarah’s place, we took another walk and saw this glorious sunset. We could not believe how much running KC did along the trail. Poor Uncle Jonny was worried she’d fall as she pushed, pulled and challenged him to race with her.

It’s been another glorious day!

New Mexico: Day #1

We left early Friday for Chicago’s O’Hare airport. Our taxi driver was from Eritrea and we had a lively conversation the entire way. He was surprised to hear that Art had been to Ethiopia on his way to Kilimanjaro. (Without me, mind you… I don’t even like to climb stairs.)

We haven’t walked through the United concourse in a long time and it was fun to see the neon lights.


Tif had prepared extremely well for the three hour flight. KC had a little i-pod of her favorite shows, a stack of paperback books and a container of cereal snacks.

As we neared Albuquerque there was a great deal of turbulence. I actually saw the steward get thrown into the air a few inches. Everybody started to murmur somewhat nervously. Suddenly KC squealed, “Weeeeee!” and laughed gleefully. Everyone chuckled and laughed along with her commenting at what a good flyer she was.


Our son, Jon met us at the airport. What a welcome sight he was!


Back at Jon’s place, our grand-dog, Mungo warmed to me right away, even putting his head on my leg which surprised me since I am not used to animals much. I love to watch them but I haven’t had a pet (aside from fish and hamsters) since I was 5 years old.

Art loves dogs but Mungo started growling and barking at him when he appeared. Jon thinks Mungo was probably harmed by a man wearing a hat and dark glasses. Art wasn’t wearing a hat (and now he won’t) but he does have glasses.

After giving Mungo a treat, he seemed to realize that this human male might be OK and allowed Art to come closer. I sat close to Art and eventually, Mungo became used to having a human grandpa also.


Unlike last year, KC was ready to play with Uncle Jonny right away. Auntie Sarah returned a bit later and KC was already willing to share her snacks with them.


We’re staying at the Marriott tonight which is close to Jon and Sarah’s home. Unfortunately, the hotel does NOT have their act together. Tif ordered a port-a-crib for KC to sleep in and they did not have it ready at bedtime. Pillows had to be propped along the bed so she wouldn’t drop off. Still the room was a whole lot nicer than the Motel 6’s we usually stay at.


Tif’s husband does a LOT of traveling on business and was able to get us a great deal on the hotel. Free... love it!



We had dinner at Garduno’s.



The ambiance was very New Mexican and the food was wonderful!

I’m having to post my blog at my son’s place because frankly, the Marriott charges $9.00 a day for Internet.
Tsk!

I do believe Motel 6 has free Internet connection… not that I’m complaining, mind you.

Winnetka Rummage Sale!

OK...
I admit it. We (me) scheduled our trip to Illinois to coincide with the Winnetka Rummage Sale. From the time our children were in diapers, Peggy of Musings of Meggie and I would go to this once-a-year Rummage Sale. It was supposed to be the World's Largest Rummage Sale. When I went back to work as a teacher, the only personal day I took was to go to this Rummage Sale. I always bought a dozen or more little sweat pants for our school nurse to dispense to the kindergartners when they had their little accidents... to alleviate my guilt.


We always leave at around 6:30 or earlier to get there before the lines get too long. However, after all the clear weather we've had, this morning we were awakened to thunder and lightning at around 4:30! We decided to wait until 7:00 to leave. What? Did you think we'd give up? No way!


We went to the Childrens Clothes room first and Tif stocked up on clothes for KC to last her for the next year. After that, it was the Book room to buy stacks of books, not just for KC, but a teacher friend of Tif's. I could help with that.

However, what brought glee to KC's eyes was the Toy Room in the church gymnasium!


Right away, KC found what she wanted! It was a Radio Flyer tricycle! Just $5.00, it was in excellent condition and she would NOT let it go. She virtually bumped into a friend who happened to be there also. He's the fellow in the black shirt who was probably dragged there by his wife. Or maybe not. Maybe he was really thrilled to be there? Hmmmm... I don't think so. However, it was great seeing them both there shopping for their daughter. KC had a gorgeous Princess Belle outfit for their daughter that we purchased in the Children's Clothes room.


We actually finished our shopping in time for KC to attend her little morning nursery class at the Park District.

Art and I visited the Skokie Library which I think is one of the best in the country. This statue is dedicated to all the victims of the Nazi Concentration Camps. It always makes me stop to say a little prayer in my heart when I see it.


This library is one of the places we REALLY REALLY miss when we're in Hawaii. Along with the suffering school system, Hawaii's libraries are unfortunately underfunded and are constantly at risk of cut backs. Skokie's library always has everything you'd want in a library. Sigh... I wish every city could be so lucky.

The sun came out this afternoon so KC was able to ride her little tricycle around the neighborhood. It's been a fun day!

Tomorrow we head out to New Mexico!

Techie Visit

Mrs. H. was Dina's of Jerusalem Hills Daily Photo science teacher in high school. I think it was high school. We were introduced to her and her family when our kids were in grade school. Mrs. H. shared her woods and animals with our children. As the years passed, she lost her mother and then her husband. Dina comes to visit her whenever she's is town. On one of her visits, Dina helped set her up with a laptop so that she could always be in contact with loved ones everywhere. Unfortunately, we all know the computer does often have its little glitches. We've tried our best to go out and help whenever we could. Tif has also gone out while we were in Hawaii.


We went to visit today with KC and Tif. Mrs. H. was excited about being able to use Skype to talk to Dina in Israel. Unfortunately, her laptop is an older one and does not have a microphone or camera. A separate camera and microphone was set up so she could either have a visual or an audio but not at the same time.


After watching her pull out her input plugs to have either a video to see or audio to talk to Dina, Art searched for a solution to the frustrating problem. He found another port so that both plugs could be plugged into the computer.


Voila! Audio and video! We had a lovely chat with Dina.


After all that, KC was exhausted and it was way past her naptime.


We loved seeing the view of the woods outside her window but it was time to leave for the long drive back home. KC slept almost the entire way home and then continued her nap when we got home.

Tomorrow... we've got a humongous Winnetka Rummage Sale very early in the morning. Unfortunately, there's a thunderstorm forecasted. Sigh.

The Girlfriends Club

While I was teaching in Illinois, a group of us began having lunch together once a week and sharing each other's school and home lives. We shared all our joys and heartbreaks, our successes and failures. Eventually, we were called the Lunch Bunch. I have no idea who gave us that name. There were others that joined us and then left when they went on to new posts or left the district.

When most of us retired, we could no longer be called the Lunch Bunch and for want of a better name, started referring to the group as the Girlfriends Club. We met once a month at a restaurant with a round table so we could all talk to each other.

I have missed them so much since leaving Illinois. They were my family. When I told them I was coming back for a visit after over a year away, they decided to hold a party at Judy's condo. It was absolutely wonderful to return to the warmth of their love and friendship.


But it wasn't just my return we celebrated.

We learned last month that Huong is one of only 16 U.S. educators to receive the 2010 Fulbright Scholarship Board's award of a Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Program. Sadly, shortly after that, Huong's grandmother passed away.

And then two weeks ago, Carole was presented with her first grandson.

Tonight we shared Huong's sorrow, celebrated her success, exulted in the birth of Carole's grandson, enjoyed my being once again enfolded in the warmth of their friendship, talked of future plans, commiserated over the challenges of getting "just a little bit" older, chided Deanna for not getting a computer, marveled at Fran's ageless beauty, and advised each other on how to take care of ourselves. Actually, they're all ageless. It's pretty remarkable!

Joan, who was my first grade teaching partner for nearly 18 years (and an expert in make-up, styling, etc.) met me at the door with a hug saying, "Don't you dye your hair. Keep it silvery streaked." That felt so good (because you KNOW I could never keep a dye job going... I'm far too lazy)!

Gerri dropped me off at our old house and smiled her beautiful smile saying, "I'm so glad you're back."

It really is good to be home again, but I feel like my heart is split in two.

Ah well... there's worse things than having two places to call home.

Stupid Things People Do While Driving

A few days ago I saw this story in the Chicago Tribune.

"Crash scene photographs showing dark red polish splattered over the dashboard, air bag and passenger door of a car were displayed during the trial of a motorist who allegedly was painting her nails before she slammed into a motorcyclist.

Lora Hunt is on trial for reckless homicide in the death of Anita Zaffke of Lake Zurich, who was struck from behind as she sat on her motorcycle at a red light near Lake Zurich on May 2, 2009."

The Tribune later reported:

"Had Lora Hunt been eating a sandwich or dialing her cell phone instead of polishing her nails when she struck and killed a motorcyclist, she would not now stand convicted of reckless homicide, her lawyer contends.

But prosecutor Mike Mermel said there's a big difference between polishing nails and other forms of distracted driving."

But you know what? I'm wondering. Is polishing your nails while driving a whole lot different from people who text while they drive? Or eat fast food while they drive? Or any number of things I hear about.
I'm just amazed at the stupid and reckless things people do while driving. I still see too many people driving and talking on cellphones. They are not paying attention and as soon as you see someone with that cellphone at their ear, you have to really watch out because they're apt not to be paying complete attention to their driving.

Painting her nails was a dumb thing for Lora Hunt to do, but it's not the only dumb thing people do while driving. I hope this incident will wake people up to the dangers so we don't have another tragic death that devastates so many loved ones.

Walk to Empower, Happy Mother's Day!

We are passing on the toilet training to her parents who returned this afternoon from their Cruise to Bermuda. Still no poop in the potty but she's happy to tell everybody she needs to go whether she needs to or not and then call out happily, "False Alarm!" This could get old pretty quickly if it wasn't so darn funny.

Art got up at 5:30 this morning when the temperatures were 39 degrees to pick up a neighbor and head down into Chicago for the Breast Cancer Walk to Empower Race. The plan was for all of us to go but I couldn't see waking KC and going out into the cold to walk when she still has a cough.


The 44 story CNA building had a huge ribbon. That's the Sears Tower on the left. Oops! I mean Willis Tower.


Art's mom had breast cancer and had a double mastectomy. She eventually passed away of throat cancer way too soon. She was the sort of mother-in-law paragon you wish everybody had.


Art and our neighbor, Alvin ran for the United Airlines team.


Art says although the temperatures were cool, it was a sunny day and no windchill. There were a reported 50,000 participants in the walk/race.

It was a lovely start to Mother's Day and it ended especially happily for KC who got to have her mommy and daddy back home.

I hope you all had a terrific Mother's Day!

Toilet Training: Day #6

I took away the singing potty seat (it sings whenever there's moisture in the pot) today and I've noticed KC wasn't quite as dry as she's been. I guess the grown-up toilet isn't as much fun to use. I'm having to remind her again. I've also upped the ante. I've told her that she gets the sticker, but now NO star or cookie unless she goes on her own and she's dry. However, if I ever see a poop... she can have the moon.

Her parents return from their cruise tomorrow so I'm hoping she'll have a nice present for them. I suppose that sounds rather funny that we'd all be happy if she showed them some nice poop for their welcome home present. However, that's life right now.

Art will be getting up very early tomorrow to go to the Breast Cancer "Walk to Empower" run in Chicago. KC and I were planning to accompany him and do the walk part of the race but it's going to be 40 degrees or so and KC is getting over a cold. I'm not risking her health. And yes, I admit it... I'm not that eager to wake up at 5:30, get KC ready and then walk with KC in a stroller in the almost freezing (37 degrees or so) cold. My blood has thinned out since we moved to Hawaii.


I would like to wish all you mothers out there (and fathers who have had the role of mothers) a very wonderful Mothers Day!!!

Toilet Training: Day #5

It's after midnight and I'm pretty exhausted.

We had a morning appointment with our financial advisor up north. We took KC with us, of course. Just in case, I put KC in pull-ups and brought along her toilet seat attachment. Sure enough, right in the middle of our meeting, KC said she had to use the potty. We rushed over to the Women's Bathroom and she promptly let loose. I was quite impressed. This was the first time she used a toilet outside of the house.

Wow!

She was dry after her nap. However, she's still not comfortable with pooping in the potty.

It's exciting to see her reach a new milestone everyday.

This evening we hosted our Anniversary Party. We've celebrated our wedding anniversaries with two other couples for more than two decades. Even though Art and I have moved to Hawaii, we can't stop tradition. I wish we could meet more often but we now live so far apart that we manage to usually meet just once a year. It's funny how because of our past history, even though we're so far apart and meet so rarely, we know that if we need help with something, we'd be able to count on them. It's a lovely feeling.

Uh... oh...
Art just told me that it's 12:20 AM and I need to get to bed because you-know-who will be up bright and early tomorrow.

Good night everybody.

Toilet Training: Day #4

Toilet Training is continuing. Still no poop but she's got everything else accomplished. She pees in the potty but poops in the pants. I believe she's relishing the idea of having our complete attention focused on her.

While KC was at school we drove down to Home Depot and stood all the Japanese Weeping Cherry trees in a row. We deliberated the merits of each one and then REmeasured the pot to see if it could fit through Tif's car window.


It barely fit! I sat in the backseat with the pot in my lap propping it so it would stay in one position and not snap off the top that was sticking out through the window.


Then we had to decide on the best spot.


We were relieved that the branches remained in tact after that precarious ride home. (Can you tell Art loves trees? If he could he'd have planted a mango tree there.)


We picked up KC from her school and she was more than happy to help.


The tree is planted. Art's back hurts from all the digging. Got to see more friends who stopped by and KC is in bed tonight keeping her dry bottom record in tact. Her parents e-mailed from Bermuda saying they'd gone to see a pink sand beach. Really? KC has asked them for a yellow hat and by golly, I'll bet they're going crazy trying to find her one after the effort she has put in this week!

Toilet Training: Day #3

Is it really only the third day? I've told Art that I don't want to go out and do anything while we're in the toilet training mode. I need to be near the potty until KC is really comfortable with the idea. After all, she's been perfectly pleased with her diaper for three years and needs to see for herself that it's really a great idea to use this alternative method.

This means we're not really free to do much of anything else. I really don't mind. I consider this a priviledge and it's a lovely bonding time to share the exhilaration of her excitement and proud smiles and squeals.

She woke up this morning with a wet diaper but she still insisted she needed to go before she went to school. She did! Yae! A sticker and mini Oreo!


The teacher discretely asked me how it was going. I said, "Making progress."


Now I see what Tif's life is like. We had two hours while KC was at school to go to the grocery store and stop at Home Depot to look at their trees to replace our fallen Horse Chestnut tree. We saw these ornamental cherry trees. One of our friends mentioned a Japanese Weeping Cherry tree. Sounded like a good idea. However, we're trying to figure out how we're going to bring it home with Tif's small car. I wish we had our van. Ah well... we'll see.


Then we picked up KC who told us that she had to go while she was in school. Oh wow! "Good girl," we told her.

"No, I poopied in my diaper." Her voice was somber. "That's OK," she brightened. "We all make mistakes. It's OK to make mistakes."

And how true is that?

Never the less, the rest of the day went very well. She stayed dry the entire time and we did not have to do any laundry tonight. The funny thing is I told her I would put a star next to her sticker to show that she remembered to go without my telling her. Now, if I remind her, she never has to go, but 5 minutes later she'll say, "I have to go, Grandma." And she goes. I really think she's got all the angles figured out.


This afternoon, a very good friend of ours surprised us with a visit. It was so nice to see Bill since we haven't been able to go out to visit anybody these past three days.

Day #2 Potty Training Update

I'm pretty tuckered out.

However, I'm quite pleased with the progress we made today.

Yesterday we had eight big girl underwear in the wash; this evening, just one.

The breakthrough for today was she told us herself the last three times that she needed to go and then produced.

Tonight, I put her to bed and she came down ten minutes later to say she needed to go. I was too lazy to take her downstairs so I used the upstairs grown-up toilet with the child's potty attachment. And by golly! She went!

OK... still no poopie, but she tried.

I had to give her the mini Oreo reward.

Have you any idea just how hard it is to brush Oreo cookies off a child's molars? I asked her if she wouldn't like to have the reward tomorrow morning instead, as Grandpa suggested.

Riiiight.... I didn't think so. (Bird in hand is worth more than the possibility that the cookies might disappear tomorrow. Hmmm... I shouldn't have told her that I used to like Oreos, too.)

Poopie Morning: Toilet Training, Day #2

What can I say?

KC got up with a diaper full of ....
I was downstairs having my breakfast when KC woke up. Art had already finished his breakfast so he went to get her.

"Kaaaaaay... come up," Art called down. "Nooooow."

I thought it must be an emergency, but no. It was just a diaper full of...

Good grief! You'd think the man had never changed a diaper.

I put a fresh diaper on her in preparation for her two hour pre-school in the morning, but she said she wanted her big girl pants.

So far so good.

Went to school.

Came home with wet diaper.

Had lunch.

"Could you read this book to me, Grandma?"

"After you go potty, KC."

"Could you play this with me, Grandma?"

"After you go potty, KC."

"OK... I'm ready now," she called out. "Will you count for me?"

"Only after you start."

And she went. Woo hoo! She's napping now and I'm picturing her in the women's bathroom someday counting aloud while she goes. If you hear some woman's voice in the next stall going "1--2--3--4," I apologize. It's Grandma's fault.

Toilet Training: The Third Time, Day #1

After toilet training my second born which actually went a lot easier than my first, I was happy to have that task over with. Maybe that's why we only had two children.


Tif has been having a miserable time trying to teach KC to use the potty. Then someone told her that grandmothers are good for that. Siiiighhhh!

Luckily KC is quite verbal and understands a lot... sometimes too much. She also has her own opinion on how the world should be ordered and doesn't care what her peers are doing. (This will be great when she's a teenager.) Therefore, telling her that her friends are using the potty does not impress her one iota. I think she wondered why they gave up such a convenient, portable option.

I talked to her yesterday about using the potty and told her we would be helping her learn how. I asked her what she would like to have as a reward. She said, "Cookies!" I was relieved since she hasn't been given candy yet. She is also not given juice since the pediatrician said it has too much sugar.

However, Tif and Ed gave me permission to use whatever I needed. KC said she wanted orange juice and Juicy Juice. So we bought several packs of them.

This morning I gave her the juice. She took several sips of both and decided, "Noooo. I don't like them."

"What?" We bought two packs of those box drinks! I needed her to drink a LOT of liquids.

She wanted chocolate milk or water. Tif dilutes the chocolate milk with plain milk. She gets one glass of the mixture a day. I told KC she could have as much as she wanted so long as she used the potty. I also set up a sticker reward system for her.

It's been a challenging day! I've got eight big girl underwear in the wash tonight. However, she did use the potty seven times and was euphoric! She was jumping up and down, twirling about the room chanting, "I'm proud of myself. I want to tell Mommy and Daddy."

She went to bed as pleased as can be. We're thrilled, too. I'm hoping we can keep the progress going tomorrow. By this evening she told us two times that she needed to use the potty. I felt like she'd gotten a doctorate.

Hey! Maybe we should have had a third child...

Mommy and Daddy On a Big Boat

Art left early this morning to drive Tif and Ed to O'Hare Airport to catch a plane to Newark where they caught their cruise ship to Bermuda. I was not sure how KC would react to find everybody gone except me. Well... no problem. She overslept. By the time she woke up at close to 9:00 Art was already back. She woke up cheerful and chatty.


I'd forgotten what a THICK Sunday newspaper is like. The Honolulu Advertiser and Honolulu Star Bulletin are very thin in comparison. It would take all day to read the Chicago Tribune. It's also FULL of coupons. Love it! I also forgot that the Crossword Puzzle is harder. I needed the help of a Crossword dictionary to finish the Trib's puzzle whereas you can finish the Advertiser puzzle in a short time.


Tif and Ed called from Newark, then from the Cruise ship when they first boarded and then just before the ship departed. (Are they anxious? Nah...)

I asked Tif if she would like to talk to KC. She said that KC doesn't usually like to talk on the phone. When I asked KC if she'd like to speak to her parents, her face lit up as she nodded. She spoke to both of them at length asking questions and smiling happily.


This afternoon we went to see police officers from the Neighborhood Watch program. KC had a great time running around and seeing everybody but wasn't exactly excited about standing around to look at police officers. Ah well...


KC does not care much for fruits or vegetables. However, she was perfectly happy enough to enjoy some smoothies.


The house looks rather lonely and naked without the large chestnut tree on the left side of the photo, but the landscapers did a nice job of taking away everything. Now... what to plant there next...

I'm leaning toward a Service Berry. Tif and Ed don't want anything too big. We already have a locust, ash and oak. They don't want fruit trees. We already have an apple and cherry tree in back. We also have a rather large Japanese maple which is quite a bit bigger than I thought it would be. Hmmm... any suggestions?

Babysitting

We had an early start this morning. Three year old KC knew not to wake up her parents but grandparents were fair game. She opened our door, walked in cheerfully and said, "Good morning, Grandpa. Good morning, Grandma."

"What time is it?" Art asked her. "What does the number on the clock say?"

KC walked over to my side of the bed and looked at the digital clock. "It says E, grandpa."

Hunh? I opened one eye to look at her.

"What other number is there, KC?" Art asked her.

"E"

I looked at the clock. It was 6:33.

"What other number, KC?" Art still did not open his eyes.

"6, Grandpa."

Ah well... what the heck. We got up and made breakfast. Her parents, I imagine, were loving this.

Tomorrow, Tif and Ed will be leaving for a week-long cruise to Bermuda. Tif told KC this afternoon and she was not thrilled at the prospect of being left behind. However, we had pizza for dinner and that seemed to put her in excellent humor. We shall see how she reacts when she wakes up to find her parents gone.



Right now, her Grandpa is her favorite person. He was busy molding Play-Doh with her this morning. I'm not sure who was having more fun. I played the Candyland board game with her. She won... but frankly... she cheated.

We've got a busy week ahead of us. Of course. Have we had any other kind in the last 3 months?