songbird's crazy world

Jen attends college in Rhode Island. She's not in Rhode Island right now, she's "stranded" at home. she came home for spring break March 19. she should have gone back on the 28th, but decided to stay until today so that she could celebrate Passover with the family. then came the deluge. yesterday she got an email from the shcool that classes were cancelled and all nonessential employees were being sent home. portions of I-95 were flodded, and a bridge near the campus had been totally washed out. no classes today either, and no idea when the bridge might reopen. the entire state is a federal disaster area. fortunately the worst of it is in towns that aren't near the campus. I am not sure when she will be able to drive back to school. hopefuly it will be better tomorrow.

(cross posted at Midcentury Modern Moms ) I have to admit, I've never heard the term...until last week. Jen sent me a text telling me "Joe and I are going into the city for his poetry slam." I consider mysefl a sophisticated New Yorker and a patron of the arts, not to mention that I majored in English back in the day, but I had to google "poetry slam". (OMG, the 21st century is creeping into my vocabulary. I didn't look it up, I "googled" it.) Anyhow, it seems that a poetry slam is a contest, where poets are given a set amount of time to recite their works and judges are randomly selected from the audience. I suppose it's somewhat avant garde ... Until recently I wouldn't have imagined that this type of entertainment would appeal to Jen. Or that the boy she's going with (a young man she's known since middle school) would turn out to be one of the poets. Or, for that matter, that Jen would choose "English" a

I seem to have lost my focus, I need to find it. Missed the first half of the show, apparently they went home for a week? Tuned in just in time for the last chance workout and the weigh in. Blue team is up first. They have bene beating the black team up until now, will they have a good weigh in after being home? All is going well....though Daris didn't pull a large number. black team needs to have lost more than 26 pounds to beat the blue team. Tha's about 7 pounds a piece. We start with Andrea. Six pounds. Not bad. Stephanie is next. She's had small losses 2 weeks in a row. this week she lost 9 pounds! And now she's under 300 and feels good. Ashley is up next. 10 pounds! so that's 25 pounds...2 pounds away from a win? It's Sam's turn. He needs more than one pound... Commercial. And then...14 pounds!!!!! Black team wins the weigh in. blue team goes to the elimination room. Sunshine has immunity. And Daris is in tears as

Last year we had our own Passover "miracle"; we did an entire seder without any family drama. I am hoping for the same kind of miracle this year, but somehow I doubt it. It's going to be weird this year, with my aunt in the hospital instead of at our table. Tensions will be high... Pray for peace at my family table, and have a happy Passover!

this morning, as I was walking on my driveway, I almost lost an earring.somehow the "back" came off, and the earring just popped off. I didn't feel anything, and would not have known if I hadn't seen it fall onto the asphalt. if it happened anywhere except my own driveway, the earring would be gone, I'm sure.

(cross posted at Midcentury Modern Moms ) Last week Ora wrote about her son's summer job .  I do hope everything works out for him.     I steal from the best.  It's time for me to talk about my daughters' summer plans.   My rule is that my kids must do something constructive during the summer.  I don't care if it's employment, study or volunteer work, so long as it fills a significant amount of time, is useful and requires active participation.  The rule came into existence after that disastrous summer -- the summer between Jen's sophomore and junior years in high school -- when Jen sat home all summer and did absolutely nothing.  I thought I was going to kill her, or myself, by the end of that summer. (That was a double occasion -- the first and the last time. the following summer she got a job at a day camp, the same camp where she and Becca had been campers.)   This year, Jen's summer is already planned.  She will be home from college in mid-May

first me -- weight's up a bit, I vow to get back into the groove on program. the show -- missed it again, read the recap. you have to feel for the black team -- even with a 5 pound advantage they can't win for losing. though I am glad to see some of the challenges were designed to show something other than physical strength, that levels the playing field a bit.

Our high school schedules Senior Prom for the same weekend as graduation. the prom is Friday night, the graduation follows on Sunday. This year Senior Prom will be June 25. last night Becca wanted to discuss prom. or rather, after-prom. she wants to rent a house in the Hamptons. can you tell I am nervous? Jen and her friends never did that....their after-prom activities involved taking the limo into the city and going to a comedy club. That's what Becca did last year, when she went to her friend's senior prom. Becca's group of friends want to spend Friday night through Sunday morning at a beach house. Becca and Justin are in charge of planning this event. they plan on a group of 30 - 40 kids. Becca tells me that the kids on the guest list are in the "goody-two-shoes" category, I won't have to be concerned about drinking or drugs. "Don't worry, mom." I'm worried.

(cross posted at Midcentury Modern Moms ) whenever I spot a yellow car these days, the word "banana" springs into my head. It's a little bit of silliness I learned from my daughters.  Let me explain. You all  know how to play punch buggy, right?  that game has become so famous, Volkswagon actually incoroporated it into their 2010 superbowl commercial.when my girls were younger they played punch buggy frequently.  of course, my rule was that there could be no actual "punching", there could only be "touching."  of course, anyone who has ever dealt with two siblings in the back seat of a car knows that even "touching" can get out of hand, and there were times when I had to call a moratorium on punch buggy. then one day, a few years ago, Jen taught us how to play "banana".  this is a game that has to have been invented by an exasperated "punch buggy" veteran, because there is no "touching" involved in the gam

Ron Lundy died Monday. Anyone who grew up in the NYC area in the 60's and 70's knows that Bruce Morrow is everyone's cousin, that Dan Ingram will remind you to "roll your bod" while you're at Jones Beach, that Harry Harrison (the morning mayor) wants you to "unwrap each day like a precious gift." And that Ron Lundy will greet you with a big "hello love" as he broadcasts from "New York, the greatest city in the world." ah, the heyday of WABC, so successfully recreated on the oldies staiton, CBS-FM. another piece of my childhood died Monday. thank you, ron, for all the pleasure you gave your listeners. Here's the article from the New York Daily News: Ron Lundy was never one of the flashy boys of radio. But it's no accident he was an anchor on two of the most successful radio stations of the last 50 years. Lundy died Monday of a heart attack, several weeks after suffering heart failure and a series of strokes

No meeting for me this week, I had a seminar to attend.  And I missed the show, again -- forgot to set the DVR.  read the recap, though.   I like that tthey had to do a real-life situation, with full time jobs and a long commute.  The balck team lost the weigh-in, but not by much -- they are much more competitive than the blue team gave them credit for.  I am sorry to see Cheryl go.

In this blog I've focused quite a bit on my daughters, how they are moving through their teen years towards adulthood. today I want to look at the other end of the spectrum. my mother is worn to a frazzle lately, dealing with the health problems of her younger sister. it started on February 5.  my aunt was not feeling well, and made an appointment to see her doctor.  she was on her way to the doctor's office when she took a bad fall -- face first onto the sidewalk -- and broke her nose.  the paramedics brought her to the hospital, and she hasn't been home since -- first one hospital, then a rehab facility, and now another hospital.  she's become very seriously ill, to the point where my mother was afraid my aunt wouldn't survive. though she's doing OK these last few days. the intensive care unit is a very scary place.  I have to admit, it was horrible seeing my aunt lying there, with all those machines going.  part of me really wanted to run away. but

(cross posted at Midcentury Modern Moms ) That's what Becca said to me, in the midst of a fight rather loud discussion about finances -- or the lack thereof.   I am pleased that she thinks so highly of me, pleased that she evaluates my abilities  as those of a person capable of great achievement.   But obviously, I am NOT a CEO, not a high-level executive in a multi-million dollar corporation.    I have a decent job, it's not glamorous and it doens't pay nearly enough for what I want, but we certainly don't starve.   It's certainly not what I envisioned for myself when I was 17.  But I'm not 17 anymore.   Becca , on the other hand, is in that wonderful place....17 and a high school senior....where all things seem possible.  She's been raised in an affluent suburb, and has been sheltered from some of the harsher economic realities.  The life she envisions for herself...the possibilities are endless.   She does not yet understand how your visions

Bad week, skipped weigh-in but made myself go to the meeting.  I will get my focus back this week, i swear! As for the show, I watched the second half -- didn't see Michael win the challenge -- and thought he was strategic in his choices for the teams, but it will come back to bite him.  Blue team won the  challenge -- letters from home -- and then it was time for weigh-in.  O'Neal had immunity, he did well. Blue team first -- starting with Michael.  Will he beat Rudy's record?  He needs to have lost more than 7 pounds to do that.  He lost 15!!!! a total of 109 pounds in 7 weeks. Next is Sunshine.  7 pounds, not bad. Lance is next.  5 pounds, a bit disappointing. Miggy's weight loss is also disappointing.  So it Daris. Koli does well, he may have just saved the blue team. then it was balck team's turn.  the need about 6 pounds a piece to beat blue. Andrea first.  5 pounds, not bad. Cheryl lost 4 pounds.  Sherry lost 6.  Maybe there's hope!

17 years old and full of energy....yesterday sheput in a full day of school, followed by a bowlathon sponsored by the foreign language clubs (she's president of the Spanish club), worked a four hour shift at the store in the mall, and then went to the midnight showing of "alice in wonderland" last night.  she  made it to school for first period at 7:19 this morning, and is planning on heavy-duty partying at the senior banquet tonight. think she might be sleeping in tomorrow morning?

(cross posted at Midcentury Modern Moms ) You know what the thick envelope is, of course.  It's the letter from the college admissions office offering you a place in next year's freshman class.  A thick envelope is an acceptance, a thin one -- not such good news.   There was never any doubt in my mind that Becca woudl receive several thick envelopes.  she's an honor roll student with good SAT scores and a nice portfolio of extracurricular activities.  And she applied to a variety of schools -- safe schools, obtainable schools and a few "reach" schools. Can you believe she applied to 12 different schools?   True, she got a bit of a late start -- she applied to one school "early decision", and was so sure she'd be accepted that she neglgected to complete any other applications until her first choice advised her that her application was being deferred -- that they couldn't offer her admission "early decision" but that they would consi