songbird's crazy world

 So the wedding is over … I can finally say I have a son-in-law …can’t wait to see the professional photos and the video. I should mention that the wedding caterer was very sensitive to food allergies.  It seems I’m not the only one on a gluten free diet — one of the bridesmaids is gluten free, she has an autoimmune disease and her endocrinologist recommended she avoid gluten and dairy.  One of my friends is allergic to tomatoes and another friend has multiple food allergies.  Caterer was able to accommodate all of us. The bridesmaid told Becca I should try  Bare Naked Bakery . Great minds think alike. Their gluten free bread is amazing, July is almost over and I still haven’t been to the beach.  I’ve been to the pool exactly once.  I’m starting to feel deprived. We’re settling in to the new house.  Finally have the furniture set up where we want it. But some of the rooms aren’t fully organized yet. I still can’t find the charger for my Kindle.  I know it’s in the house  somewhere   bu

We had a full plate of festivities. The wedding took place on Long Island’s north shore.  The venue was a Gold Coast mansion right on Hempstead Harbor.  Think The Great Gatsby  and you’ve definitely found the vibe.  The wedding party and the out-of-town guests stayed at a small hotel near the venue.  Only a 30 minute drive from my home, but it felt like another world.   So I picked up my dress Wednesday afternoon, had a mani-pedi Thursday morning and headed for the hotel Thursday afternoon. We got a free upgrade to a suite!  So nice.  And the hotel manager sent us a tray of macarons.   Becca and Brendon had prepared a “welcome” bag for hotel guests — bottled water, cookies, chips, stuff like that.  And Dove chocolate. (I bought the chocolate back in February … ran to four different stores … what I do for my daughters …) Becas and Brendon didn’t want a formal rehearsal dinner.  Instead we had a casual party at a local bar/restaurant Thursday night. It was mostly friends of the bride and

 And the theme is “songs about a tropical paradise”. Any Jimmy Buffett fan would have no trouble coming up with songs.  In fact, the problem is narrowing the choices.  Do I stick with Jimmy or do I include other artists?  Which songs to include and which to leave out? Well, let’s start with something by Jimmy …       How about something by Madonna?    Let’s keep that Latin rhythm going … Or maybe some reggae    Maybe some classic Broadway Or some CSN And we close it out with Harry Belafonte   

  Nevertheless (I'm in Love with You) Welcome to Saturday 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme! Saturday 9: Nevertheless (I'm in Love with You) 1969 Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it  here . 1) In this song, Liza Minnelli acknowledges that she may be "taking a terrible chance." Have you done anything risky lately? We moved house.  I think anytime you upset your routine and change things you’re taking a risk. 2) In 1969, when Liza recorded this song, she was 23 and her career was really beginning to take off. She was a sought-after guest on TV talk and va

 Getting used to the new home  The furniture is right but the room is wrong ... The more things change … still greeting me from the kitchen window … (excuse the mess, we’re still unpacking…)

So we live in Levittown, the quintessential suburb, the prototype for the modern suburban community,  As I’ve mentioned before,  Bill Levitt and his company, Levitt & Sons, built this humongous community known as Levittown, and which extended into Hicksville and Wantagh.  The impetus for development was the housing shortage which occurred as former GI’s returned from WW II, married and started the Baby Boom. Each neighborhood built by Levitt had winding streets with bucolic names, and included parks, shopping centers and public pools. There were two model houses — the cape, which had 750 square feet of living space (kitchen, living room, two bedrooms and a bath) and the slightly larger ranch — same number of rooms but with a whopping 800 square feet of living space.  Both models had a loft for future expansion.  Some later models included a carport or a garage.  Over the years, of course, people remodeled their homes.  Some added garages, others converted garages to additional livi

 Our new neighbor …

 I thought I was past it, but something popped up in my e-mail today … So, as you will recall, at the beginning of June Drew and I found a house that we thought was perfect. Advertised on Zillow, it was a decent sized house, nice layout, pretty yard …we put in our application, the broker said we qualified…but the landlord decided to look for “something better”.   Then the ad of Zillow showed a price cut.  Really?  After we found what is now our house, but before we moved in, I kept an eye on the various real estate sites, just in case the deal for this house fell through.    The broker re-posted the ad on Zillow, back to the original rent, the amount we would have paid.  Then I got an email from another real estate site, for a new listing.  Same house, different broker, rent higher  than what we agreed to pay.  The Zillow ad was gone.   Out of curiosity I drove past that house, and they’d done some cosmetic work on the exterior …nothing remarkable, nothing that justifies a substantial

 Another “your choice” week.  A rerun, of sorts … we revisit my favorite Rod Stewart songs … This is the first song of his that I ever heard. I was instantly in love. This next  song asks a question.  The answer, Rod, is “yes I do...” Then there’s “Hot Legs”.  When he sang it at Jones Beach in 2014 (that was a fun concert) he kicked a few beach balls out to the crowd. I love his cover of a Carole King classic. And we end with my favorite.   

 Thank you for your service, President Biden, and enjoy your well-earned retirement.

 It’s a full moon … on the anniversary of the first moon landing.    Cool. I’ve got the perfect song to honor the occasion.    The house is starting to come together.  Of course it took a whole week to locate the box with my coffee mugs … I haven’t gone up or down the stairs empty-handed all week, since I’m constantly bringing things to their proper place. Amazon got quite a bit of my money this week as I purchased stuff for the house … we seem to have an abundance of bathroom scales — Drew has one, I have two (I bought one Omada sent one when I enrolled in their program) and one of the previous residents left a scale in the bedroom closet.   The goal is to have the house all set up before Labor Day — we always host a barbecue for our friends that weekend — and I think we’ll be set up and settled in by the middle of August. I think I’ve done all the “change of address” things, and the mail is starting to show up at the new house. Drew is still having trouble with his NY Daily News sub

  Disco Duck Welcome to Saturday 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9  questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme! Saturday 9: Disco Duck (1976) Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it  here . 1) In this song, Rick Dees begins by describing a party where he can't resist that disco beat. What's the last party you attended? Was there dancing? My daughter’s bridal shower was last month.  No, there was no dancing.  But there will be dancing next week at her wedding. 2) While this record was a massive international hit in 1976, it got off to an inauspicious start. Rick Dees said it took him less than a day to write t

Earlier this week we said goodbye to  Redford , an orange cat who adopted our family some 13 years ago. That cat will always have a special place in my heart. ❤️  My two miscreants are getting used to our new house, especially all the big, beautiful windows.  Unlike Redford, Duchess and Shadow are strictly indoor cats.  So I will never again know the joy of my cat climbing all over my car when I come home …

 We are still setting up the new house …  I don’t have a functioning kitchen yet, our priorities were elsewhere, but I’m getting tired of takeout, so we are prioritizing that area … I’m getting used to the post office delivering my mail mid afternoon instead of mid morning — we’re in a different zip code and therefore on a different delivery route.  A word about Ring doorbells … I bought one when I lived in the apartment but never installed it.  When Drew and I moved into the other house last year, we installed the Ring doorbell, and we’ve gotten very used to being able to see what’s going on in front of the house.  Ring doorbells can only be installed or uninstalled with a special tool.   When we moved out of the house, Drew told me “We can’t take the doorbell, I must have packed the tool.”  Little did he realize I was looking for an excuse to upgrade to a better model … So it was Prime Day, and I was able to buy the doorbell and a security camera for what normally would be the price

The cable guy told me:  “Your house is much bigger on the inside.” He had no idea why I was laughing. I had no idea we moved to a Tardis …

 In Yiddish, a ‘Vance’ is a bedbug.  It’s usually applied to a small and annoying person.

  So Monday afternoon and I’m in the middle of unpacking everything I own in my new house …and Jen sends me a text: Redford isn’t doing well.  We’re at the vet with him now. It’s not good.   I think we’re going to have to say goodbye today. The message was not unexpected, not a surprise. I posted in  March 2023  that I was concerned… By now you know Redford’s story.  You’ll find some posts in this blog from January 2011 about an orange cat, a stray who planted himself on our front porch and (after my sister fed him) refused to leave.  He was a full grown tomcat, but after we took him in, cleaned him up and fed him, he turned out to be a sweetie.   My sister named him Redford.  Bob Redford, actually, on account of his color and naturally bobbed tail.  (Think he might be part Manx?). The vet said he was likely between 2 and 4 years old.  So he’s been a member of our family 13 years.  Cats have an average lifespan of 12-18 years.   You can read about Redford’s exploits  here,  and  here,

 And this week’s theme? Songs that make you think of sports or other outdoor activities. Hmm, what do I know about sports?    The game can’t get started until … This one is about some of the greatest in the sport.   My loyalty lies with a certain team    And 1986 was a magical year for my team    Of course, there is another team in NYC    They even inspired a Broadway musical    Another Broadway moment    Back to my favorite team, And a favorite from Citi Field     The Mets even have a bona fide  singer  on the team.    A little something from Peter, Paul and Mary Before I play the last song … two clips that do not contain music. First up, a magical moment from the 1986 World Series.  Game 6, and the Red Sox led the series 3-2.  Bottom of the 10th and Mookie Wilson came to bat …    The second clip is from the Mets-Braves game on 9/21/2001.  The first baseball game played in NYC after 9/11.    Back to the music.  I think we can all relate to Fogerty here …    Oh, alright, one more …   

 So what was packed must now be unpacked.  Fun… Two bewildered kitties are wondering why the furniture is right but the rooms are all wrong.  Tentative exploration has begun. As long as they can find their food bowls, the litter boxes and a comfortable place to sleep, they’ll be fine. I spotted a robin on my lawn. You know how I feel about robins.  Funny, but while we saw lots of birds at the other house, I never saw a robin on our lawn.  Maybe that was a sign I didn’t belong in that house?  The property manager advised us that our next door neighbor suffers from a common suburban malady known as “I own the street.”  She warned us to not park our cars in front of our neighbor’s house.  No worries — I drive a Prius C and Drew drives a Pacifica, we have no other cars, and our driveway can accommodate four cars.  But our neighbor?  They have three cars, can park only two in their driveway, and park the third in a spot that’s halfway in front of their house and halfway in front of ours. Ca

 I’ve felt anxious and overwhelmed the last few days, but at last we are ready to move. I’m not sorry to be leaving this house.  There were problems from the day we moved in.  The biggest problem was our landlord.  I will not miss him at all!   I won’t miss having a back yard that borders the park — there were a lot of Little League games played in that park, and we could hear almost everything — not fun when you’re trying to sleep in on a Sunday morning.  Not to mention the incessant visits from that ice cream truck — his jingle was awful.  I won’t miss the pine trees that separate my yard from the park. Nor will I miss all the pine needles that sought to invade my kitchen, or the pine cones that literally covered my lawn. There are no pine trees anywhere near our new house.  There is a tree in our neighbor’s yard, the branches extend over the fence to our yard.  I don’t mind dealing with autumn leaves.   We have an absentee landlord, and a very professional property manager.  The new

  Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer Welcome to Saturday 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme! Saturday 9: Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer (1963)   Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it  here . 1) In this song, Nat King Cole sings about enjoying "soda and pretzels and beer." Which of those three would we find in your kitchen right now? Drew drinks Coke, I drink Diet Pepsi.  He has a bag of pretzels, I’ve got gluten-free pretzels.  Neither of us likes beer. 2) The lyrics mention a romantic movie. Which movie couple do you believe had onscreen chemistry?  Humph

 I’m sorry we yelled at you, Shadow, but we did it because we love you and want to keep you safe. You know that it’s too dangerous for cats to be outside, bad things can happen to a kittie wandering around this neighborhood.   Yeah, I microchipped that one for a reason … She’s loving all the boxes for the upcoming move …

 This is what’s growing on the fence between our driveway and the neighbor’s yard.

 Just looked at the school calendar for 2024-2025. The calendar reflects the wonderful diversity that is Long Island. Our public schools start their year right after Labor Day and end their year in June.  They close for all the usual holidays, like Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, etc.  Of course they have a winter break at Christmas and a spring break at Easter. They also take a week-long break for Presidents Day. And our public schools have always closed in observance of three Jewish holidays — Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Passover.  The size of the Jewish community and expected absenteeism if the schools remained open … Well, now the schools close for the Lunar New Year (what we used to call Chinese New Year) in January/February.  They close for a couple of Muslim Eids (the Muslim calendar is a lunar calendar, so the dates of the holidays always change). And now they close for the Hindu festival of Diwali, which is also a fall festival.  This year Diwali will be celebrated

John’s  Song of the Day  brought back a pleasant memory. My blog post from 2009:   ever have a moment that’s just magical? Becca celebrated her 15th  birthday by bringing a group of her friends into Manhattan to see a revival of The Fantasticks. She had an unforgettable encounter with Anthony Federov, a performer in the show, a young man who had gained quite a following during his appearances on American Idol.   It was an incredible evening, Sigh…it seems like yesterday, but it was 17 years ago …

 The other day  Liz  was amazed that I had a cell phone in the early 1990’s. Let me tell you why I got one.   It was 1964.   I was 4 years old and my sister was 3 (and my other two sisters hadn’t been born yet).  My mom was a stay-at-home mother.  Once a week she’d load us into the car and drive to her cousin’s house, about 45 minutes from our house.  Cousin was also a stay-at-home mother, but her children were school age.   My mom and her cousin would spend the afternoon bowling.  I think they were in a bowling league. One time, as we were headed home, the car got a flat tire.  My mom didn’t know how to change a tire, so she had to walk  until she found a pay phone (remember those?) and was able to call for help. The icing on the cake?  While she was dealing with the car, I noticed a sore on my finger.  The next day I came down with chicken pox. Not my mom’s favorite day … So it was 1993 or 1994, and everyone had pagers. Someone would page you, and then you’d have to find a phone and

 We were at the Ducks game on the 4th of July, so obviously we weren’t home to watch the Macy’s fireworks.  We DVR’d the show to watch later.  I expected to be disappointed — while the fireworks are supposed to be wonderful live (I’ve never seen them live), the tv presentation has been lacking.  And the show lived up to — or rather, down to — my expectations.  We also DVR'd the show from the Capitol in Washington.  That show was much better.  The folks at Macy’s should take note. OMG the rudeness of some people!  Sunday afternoon the landlord at our current address called, he wanted to bring prospective tenants to see the house.  OK, that’s not a problem.  He showed up a few minutes later with a couple and their tween daughter.  The mother had a small dog in her arms.  SHE BROUGHT THE DOG INTO MY  HOUSE.  She didn’t ask if it was alright with me, just marched in with her dog.  Duchess and Shadow were not amused. Duchess hid under the bed.  Shadow hid under the couch.   I almost fee

 Today is my daughter Becca’s birthday!   I’ll be honest, I looked at Billboard’s top songs for the year Becca was born and recognized only a few of those hits.  But let’s play the ones I do remember.            1992 was a very good year …

 For some reason my laptop isn’t talking to my printer.  The printer and my iPad are getting along just fine, but the laptop …I wound up emailing the document to myself from my laptop to the iPad, and then printing it.  Frustrating, but I did what I needed to do. Dealing with all the tasks, great and small, that are related to moving house. Utilities, insurance, moving company …packing, packing, packing …. I’m loving Home Depot right now.  They were able to match the paint in the old house, I bought a tiny can to do some touch ups where the paint chipped.  The property manager came by the new house today to go over the things that need to be fixed.  Nothing major, but there are a few items on the list. Contractors showed up and began to work …  Yesterday I did my first “change of address”, the first of many.  You have no idea how many people know where you live until you have to change your address… The reason I did an address change …I bought a dress.  It’s a casual cotton sundress, s