This is a quick one and it is one I will be hearing about when Elena is in her twenties and she is reading this for the first time and she will come to me and say " did you really have to write that down? and I would never say that."
The other day ( Elena, it came from your mother, so we all know it is true, because she never forgets nothin!)Elena goes to her mother, Mom, I want to wear a shirt that show my boobs are getting bigger.
Sorry that's the funny story. I'm sure all women can relate to that story, it's just coming too quickly. Next it will be the other stuff and she is already a cranky little b...h and her and her sister fight sometimes over the stupidest things and their mother is having hot flashes and the dog is a female and she is chewing up every piece of furniture in the house in sympathy. Someone quick, come and save me, please!!
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Going Russian via Nyack
It is Sunday night in November. Tony has been gone just a few weeks and we are all still a bit of a mess. Teri booked the Disney trip. We leave the day after Christmas and return New Years day. it should be grand.
There was a small Russian festival today at the Russian church in Nyack. It is the same one I took the girls to when they first came over. They got a big kick out of it then.This time we told them we were going out and again we refused to tell them where we were going. What's wrong with us? As Nastia said, "Why can't you just tell us where we are going?" I guess, because IT'S MORE FUN. I told them we were going for a walk in Nyack. they said as long as we are not going to church. I of course said we were going and I thought you liked church? Their answer was yes we do, but not today.
We got to the Church about one in the afternoon and stayed about two hours. we walked around and kept telling the girls to touch nothing. One or two vendors were dumb enough to say it was OK for them to touch, that their wares were not breakable. That sounded like a challenge and I hoped the girls did not rise to it. They kept touching stuff and then Elena started walking around saying "I want to buy something, I want to buy something." I asked her how much money she had , she said none because we did not tell them where we were going. I think I just hit on why we don't tell them where we are going.
We ended up buying a variety of food, spending forty dollars and having a good time. We ate dumplings, cabbage rolls filled with meat . We tried getting some Kutleta, Russian meatballs, but they were out. I would like to compare mine to their's so I can improve mine.
We got back around two and Teri, that brave soul took the girls and a friend Jennifier ice skating and then she took the girls, our two to the grocery, I expected her to come back crazy. I had a nice quiet afternoon. Teri came back surprisingly sane.
There was a small Russian festival today at the Russian church in Nyack. It is the same one I took the girls to when they first came over. They got a big kick out of it then.This time we told them we were going out and again we refused to tell them where we were going. What's wrong with us? As Nastia said, "Why can't you just tell us where we are going?" I guess, because IT'S MORE FUN. I told them we were going for a walk in Nyack. they said as long as we are not going to church. I of course said we were going and I thought you liked church? Their answer was yes we do, but not today.
We got to the Church about one in the afternoon and stayed about two hours. we walked around and kept telling the girls to touch nothing. One or two vendors were dumb enough to say it was OK for them to touch, that their wares were not breakable. That sounded like a challenge and I hoped the girls did not rise to it. They kept touching stuff and then Elena started walking around saying "I want to buy something, I want to buy something." I asked her how much money she had , she said none because we did not tell them where we were going. I think I just hit on why we don't tell them where we are going.
We ended up buying a variety of food, spending forty dollars and having a good time. We ate dumplings, cabbage rolls filled with meat . We tried getting some Kutleta, Russian meatballs, but they were out. I would like to compare mine to their's so I can improve mine.
We got back around two and Teri, that brave soul took the girls and a friend Jennifier ice skating and then she took the girls, our two to the grocery, I expected her to come back crazy. I had a nice quiet afternoon. Teri came back surprisingly sane.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Halloween 2011
This Halloween was not as good as last years. We tried, but when you get several inches of snow a day or two before and there are downed power lines all around and streets are still without lights it is a little difficult to top or even match going down to Broadway in Nyack when it is one of the places you might find these downed power lines. Sooo we went to the Palisades center mall like a thousand or two other parents and their kid to go trick or treating. I must admit some places are trying to come up with alternatives that are imaginative as much as they are not fun. Like trick or trunking where parents gather with their brood and let their kids go from car to car in a parking lot to get stuff. When I was a kid that was called breaking into a car, I guess if the parents are still at the car handing out candy it is legal. Another brainstorm was postponing Halloween for a few days. I’m sorry that just doesn’t work for me either. I was going to compare it to having Christmas in January, but Russians and Greeks already beat me to that one.
At the mall we picked up a list of stores that were giving out candy and to avoid the crowds we decided to start on the fourth floor. We did avoid crowds, but by the time we got to the third floor there were already signs up saying they were out of candy. The girls were unhappy and not having a lot of fun, so I tried to bribe them with ten dollars. It worked for about ten minutes, a dollar a minute. Next I let them go on the kiddie rides that they always ask to go on. Me, mister sixties, give them both a quarter, I then look at the coin slot and hand them both three more quarters. So much for nickel candy bars.
We hit a string of store on the second floor that were out of candy and decide to call it a night. We tell the girls that they can eat anywhere they want to and when they pick McDonalds we tell them that we will take them to see puss in boots next week if we can go to outback. They said ok. They said ok, they were bought cheap. More so when it turns out there is little that the girls will eat at the outback. Will all have dinner and get home around nine or so. It wasn’t too bad of an evening that was until I open up the mail and see a ticket from a red light traffic camera from Yonkers. Don’t get me started on how much I hate them and how it is a bad way to enforce traffic rules. There should be signs up telling you where they are to give you a chance to be a little more careful. Look sees what you’ve gone and done now you got me all worked up over this ripe off crap….
pop-pop
It was a Wednesday afternoon I was driving to Danbury to go to the office and I get a phone call from Teri that her dad is having trouble talking and he is refusing to allow Amanda to call an ambulance. So she called her mother and Teri was called and I was called. I don’t think it mattered in retrospect. Tony stopped breathing and an ambulance was called. His pace maker kept him alive until paramedic got to the house and restarted his heart. He was taken to the hospital in Nyack where he stayed for about a week, giving people who loved him time to make peace with the fact that he was going to join his wife June for some stuffed peppers and have a big family dinner that Sunday like the Laudiero clan has not been able to muster here down on earth for a good many years. He will be sorely missed.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
The end of Summer and the first day of school
It was Labor Day, the last day of summer vacation, 2011. We decided to go to the movies that day and everyone except for Teri had trouble moving their ass to get out of the house early. We ended up going to see ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ a movie I thought might be too intense for the girls. I didn’t even check to see what it is rated until we were at the theatre and I couldn’t find the rating. I didn’t want to be one of those parents that take their children to totally inappropriate movies and people like I used to be would shake their totally uninformed heads at and think, ‘What were they thinking when they bought those kids tickets?’ Well now I know, “wow! A movie that is not a cartoon, that I can relate to and the high point is not the snacks”
During the scene on the bridge when the apes are trying to cross it and the cops are trying to stop them, a bomb could have gone off next to the girls and they would have not noticed. They were so involved in the film they stopped eating their candy.
In earlier films, ‘Super eight’, the girls decided to crawl into our laps and after a large soda a fifty odd pound girl doesn’t fit in your lap very well. I expected that to happen again. Gladly, it didn’t.
Weighted the girls and took measure of their heights, both are about the same fifty-eight inches and about fifty-five pounds.
First day of school was on the sixth, Nastia’s first day of middle school and first time taking a bus. We had gone to the school sponsored event and gotten her schedule and we spent time walking around the school going to different classes. This was going to be different.
On Labor Day we got Nastia a cell phone, well in reality I got a new cell phone and she got a new phone number. We gave her lots of rules on cell phone use and told her the school rules were cell phone off and put away during school hours and the cell phone was to be off during her bus ride home. Remember that.
Teri’s alarm went off at a few minutes to six in the morning. I was awake before that because of work stress and had let the dogs out thirty minutes earlier. Teri got up the second time the alarm went off at six-ten. I turned the radio on and began to listen to it waiting for the time to get the girls up. Last year I got them up at six-forty, and then switched it to six-fifty. I planned to bring it to six-forty so they would not be late on their first day. I always hated being late on my first day of school, missing meeting the teacher and it was scary for some reason missing that. I got them up at six-forty and went back to bed to listen to the radio. I am not a good parent; I don’t make them their cereal. I remember my mom doing that and when she was down to the last kid she was asked why she still did it and her answer was I did it for everyone else she wanted to be fair.
At twenty minutes to eight Nastia and I walked Elena to school. We hung around the school for a few minutes to make sure Elena was ok being there by herself and then Nastia and I walked home. That was weird as well as the next half an hour. After the girls were off at elementary school, I had the house to myself, it was quiet and I did what I wanted. I would listen to the radio and quietly eat my oatmeal. L of that changed. She talked all the way home, she talked while I turned the radio on, she talked and made sounds telling me what she thought of my oatmeal. I feel the same way; she didn’t need to remind me. She even talked during the eight o’clock news on cbs. Finally I did tell her ‘shh!’
When it was quarter after we left for the bus down at the end of the street, one minute away, a whole new life away and it was raining. We started down to the stop when Nastia says why you didn’t tell me it was raining; I could have bought my Umbrella. I don’t like umbrella’s too many kids use them as toys, but this time I told her to run back and get one. It was a good thing soon after it started to rain pretty hard and the bus was late. A neighbor from the other side of Lake showed up with her daughter named Amanda and the four of us waited in the rain. When the bus finally came Nastia had her panic attack. She kept saying "I'm notgoing, I'm not going, I'm not goimg" as i pushed her towards the door of the bus. she didn't fight me, but she was scared. I told her it would be ok and everything would be so easy next week. She got on the bus, Amanda followed her and the bus took off.
Everything was done and it was time for work and I went.
About four in the afternoon I get a phone call from teri and I let it go to voice mail, I was talking to a customer and he had a problem that needed to be fixed now. After the call, I get a second call from Teri and a call from Amanda, that I pick up. She says that Nastia has not come home yet and no one knows where she is. I try to find the school's number, then I call my mother to see if she can go over when Teri calls me up asking why I haven't called the school yet. I can't find the schools number so I call Nastia's number, remember I told you this would come up. Well guess what, her phone is off so she can't answer it. I finally get through to the school and they say because it is the first day everything is running late, she will be home in a half hour which she was. It was very frustrating to not be in a position to do anything about finding your daughter.
During the scene on the bridge when the apes are trying to cross it and the cops are trying to stop them, a bomb could have gone off next to the girls and they would have not noticed. They were so involved in the film they stopped eating their candy.
In earlier films, ‘Super eight’, the girls decided to crawl into our laps and after a large soda a fifty odd pound girl doesn’t fit in your lap very well. I expected that to happen again. Gladly, it didn’t.
Weighted the girls and took measure of their heights, both are about the same fifty-eight inches and about fifty-five pounds.
First day of school was on the sixth, Nastia’s first day of middle school and first time taking a bus. We had gone to the school sponsored event and gotten her schedule and we spent time walking around the school going to different classes. This was going to be different.
On Labor Day we got Nastia a cell phone, well in reality I got a new cell phone and she got a new phone number. We gave her lots of rules on cell phone use and told her the school rules were cell phone off and put away during school hours and the cell phone was to be off during her bus ride home. Remember that.
Teri’s alarm went off at a few minutes to six in the morning. I was awake before that because of work stress and had let the dogs out thirty minutes earlier. Teri got up the second time the alarm went off at six-ten. I turned the radio on and began to listen to it waiting for the time to get the girls up. Last year I got them up at six-forty, and then switched it to six-fifty. I planned to bring it to six-forty so they would not be late on their first day. I always hated being late on my first day of school, missing meeting the teacher and it was scary for some reason missing that. I got them up at six-forty and went back to bed to listen to the radio. I am not a good parent; I don’t make them their cereal. I remember my mom doing that and when she was down to the last kid she was asked why she still did it and her answer was I did it for everyone else she wanted to be fair.
At twenty minutes to eight Nastia and I walked Elena to school. We hung around the school for a few minutes to make sure Elena was ok being there by herself and then Nastia and I walked home. That was weird as well as the next half an hour. After the girls were off at elementary school, I had the house to myself, it was quiet and I did what I wanted. I would listen to the radio and quietly eat my oatmeal. L of that changed. She talked all the way home, she talked while I turned the radio on, she talked and made sounds telling me what she thought of my oatmeal. I feel the same way; she didn’t need to remind me. She even talked during the eight o’clock news on cbs. Finally I did tell her ‘shh!’
When it was quarter after we left for the bus down at the end of the street, one minute away, a whole new life away and it was raining. We started down to the stop when Nastia says why you didn’t tell me it was raining; I could have bought my Umbrella. I don’t like umbrella’s too many kids use them as toys, but this time I told her to run back and get one. It was a good thing soon after it started to rain pretty hard and the bus was late. A neighbor from the other side of Lake showed up with her daughter named Amanda and the four of us waited in the rain. When the bus finally came Nastia had her panic attack. She kept saying "I'm notgoing, I'm not going, I'm not goimg" as i pushed her towards the door of the bus. she didn't fight me, but she was scared. I told her it would be ok and everything would be so easy next week. She got on the bus, Amanda followed her and the bus took off.
Everything was done and it was time for work and I went.
About four in the afternoon I get a phone call from teri and I let it go to voice mail, I was talking to a customer and he had a problem that needed to be fixed now. After the call, I get a second call from Teri and a call from Amanda, that I pick up. She says that Nastia has not come home yet and no one knows where she is. I try to find the school's number, then I call my mother to see if she can go over when Teri calls me up asking why I haven't called the school yet. I can't find the schools number so I call Nastia's number, remember I told you this would come up. Well guess what, her phone is off so she can't answer it. I finally get through to the school and they say because it is the first day everything is running late, she will be home in a half hour which she was. It was very frustrating to not be in a position to do anything about finding your daughter.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Everybody's growing up too quickly
Nastia goes to middle school starting this year. We had orintation today. Nastia was nervous, and didn’t want to leave us to sit in the auditorium to listen to the teachers. I guess this girl who lost her first family in Russia, lived in an orphanage and came to America not speaking the language still can find things that make her nervous. And I guess through her life, except when she went to the orphanage she was always with her sister or had someone with her. We left her and went to sit in the cafeteria to listen to other teachers talk about the school and answer questions.
After, we met up with Nastia and went over her schedule and went to some of her classes, making her go to the class as we followed. A first she seemed a little lost and wasn't trying. "Nastia where is class A204 if on the first floor all classes are A 100? I don't know." By the end she was moving around the school like she had been there weeks instead of two hours. Asked afterwards if she was still nervous she gave a big yes. In a few weeks she will love it. Right now she is afraid of bullies and lockers not opening.
After that Teri wanted a salad and soup, so we went to Charlie Browns in Jersey and ran into Nancy having lunch with some friends. It was one of the friend’s birthday.
After lunch, Elena had a gift card for game stop burning a hole in her pocket. Where have we heard that before? We went to game stop in Livingston NJ and finally got home around 4pm. Teri and I went upstairs and went to sleep until after six. We were exhausted for some reason.
After, we met up with Nastia and went over her schedule and went to some of her classes, making her go to the class as we followed. A first she seemed a little lost and wasn't trying. "Nastia where is class A204 if on the first floor all classes are A 100? I don't know." By the end she was moving around the school like she had been there weeks instead of two hours. Asked afterwards if she was still nervous she gave a big yes. In a few weeks she will love it. Right now she is afraid of bullies and lockers not opening.
After that Teri wanted a salad and soup, so we went to Charlie Browns in Jersey and ran into Nancy having lunch with some friends. It was one of the friend’s birthday.
After lunch, Elena had a gift card for game stop burning a hole in her pocket. Where have we heard that before? We went to game stop in Livingston NJ and finally got home around 4pm. Teri and I went upstairs and went to sleep until after six. We were exhausted for some reason.
Goin' up the Country
Everyone had Wednesday off and Thursday and Friday were looking poorly. So it took a little while, but we finally decided to go to the Dutchess Co. fair.
It’s an hour and a half trip, and we didn’t tell the girls where we were going. We just said bring ten dollars of your own money, go to the bathroom and get in the car. They bought their games and for the first forty-five minutes of the trip they were good and quiet. Somewhere around Fishkill they started acting up. It was time for a pit-stop. Loyal readers will shutter at the mention of the name Pit-stop.
Teri loves the Cracker Barrel, so we stopped in there to use the bathroom and to stretch our legs. Both girls wanted to spend their money on a claw hand that grips things and looked real cool. I told them no and said to Elena that she would thank me later. After prying them away from the toys several times I went outside and left it up to their mother.
A few moments later they get into the car empty handed and off we go up route 9. Past the lovely city of Poughkeepsie and the garden like Culinary Institute, we arrive at the town of Hyde Park, home to President Roosevelt. We slide past his home and a little while later we follow a sign for fair parking.
The girls didn’t see the sign and their first inkling of what we were doing was when they saw this ride towering above the tree line. It was a ride that swung in a giant loop high above the fair, more about that later. Suddenly the girls are all happy and excited and listening to us. We park and walk into the fair grounds for a reasonable 15 dollars per person over twelve, plus $5.00 parking. We walk into the middle of the midway, Teri and I are hungry and the girls are no longer thinking about food, just rides and that monster that towers over the fair grounds, whose name I’ve forgotten. We bought twenty dollars worth of tickets, about twenty –four tickets.
They run directly for the big whirly thing, which turns out to be from France. At eight tickets per ride they must have been trying to get their money back for the statue of liberty. Teri explains how many tickets that will require. To add to it I take away the sixteen tickets it will cost. It left eight, they decide to look around. At every ride the girls are told to choose carefully because once they are gone, they are gone. They end up going on three rides and we then start to wander around the fair. We are looking for the animal barns and are having trouble finding them. When I think I know where we are everything moves. We get a good tour of the fair and Teri and I eat so fair gumbo and the girls eat some chicken and fries, we have had better. We find the bans a little after dark (we left at 2:30 got to the fair around 4:30; it’s now about 7:45.) I feel the wind start to pick up and the clouds in the west are coming if fast I point this out to Teri and say we should go because it looks like a bad storm is coming. Teri wasn’t concerned and it was a good thing we didn’t leave because the best was yet to come. We found the Dutchess County hunt clubs animal exhibit. It was filled with live animals. Alligators, bobcats, monkeys, tigers and with some of them you could get your picture with them. The girls got their picture taken with a fennec fox, it’s got big ears and they both fell in love with it. After that they got to pet cows, goats and sheep before we left to find the horses, which we could not pet because they might bit. The girls were impressed with the weight and the size of the horses. After the horses we watched pig races and then found another petting zoo.
Now you would thing the girls were angels the whole evening. Well I saved all the fun for the end. After eating the girls each had ten bucks burning a hole in their pocket and they decided that they wanted to play games with it. They were warned to choose wisely. They sat down at several water games and a couple of games to throw darts at balloons near the end of their wad of cash they did start to look at the prices of the games and to choose a little wiser. They won a fish because the fish game guy let Elena win a fish after her sister won. Once out of money the phrase ‘do you have any money?’ was uttered a few times.
At the end of the night we all had a snack of ice cream for me, an Icee for each of the girls, and then Teri asks if I want to try fried Oreo cookies? I of course say yes. They were amazingly good. The outside was soft and crispy and the cookie was soft and sweet, really good.
We leave the fair at 10:30, the GPS takes us north to the Kingston-Rheincliff bridge in the opposite direction of all the traffic. I thought it was a mistake, but then I thought about the traffic and kept going. We stopped at a rest stop around 11:30 and got something to eat and drink. We got home around 12:30, my head hit the pillow around 1am and sleep finally hit after 1:30. All in all a very good day, a much needed family time.
It’s an hour and a half trip, and we didn’t tell the girls where we were going. We just said bring ten dollars of your own money, go to the bathroom and get in the car. They bought their games and for the first forty-five minutes of the trip they were good and quiet. Somewhere around Fishkill they started acting up. It was time for a pit-stop. Loyal readers will shutter at the mention of the name Pit-stop.
Teri loves the Cracker Barrel, so we stopped in there to use the bathroom and to stretch our legs. Both girls wanted to spend their money on a claw hand that grips things and looked real cool. I told them no and said to Elena that she would thank me later. After prying them away from the toys several times I went outside and left it up to their mother.
A few moments later they get into the car empty handed and off we go up route 9. Past the lovely city of Poughkeepsie and the garden like Culinary Institute, we arrive at the town of Hyde Park, home to President Roosevelt. We slide past his home and a little while later we follow a sign for fair parking.
The girls didn’t see the sign and their first inkling of what we were doing was when they saw this ride towering above the tree line. It was a ride that swung in a giant loop high above the fair, more about that later. Suddenly the girls are all happy and excited and listening to us. We park and walk into the fair grounds for a reasonable 15 dollars per person over twelve, plus $5.00 parking. We walk into the middle of the midway, Teri and I are hungry and the girls are no longer thinking about food, just rides and that monster that towers over the fair grounds, whose name I’ve forgotten. We bought twenty dollars worth of tickets, about twenty –four tickets.
They run directly for the big whirly thing, which turns out to be from France. At eight tickets per ride they must have been trying to get their money back for the statue of liberty. Teri explains how many tickets that will require. To add to it I take away the sixteen tickets it will cost. It left eight, they decide to look around. At every ride the girls are told to choose carefully because once they are gone, they are gone. They end up going on three rides and we then start to wander around the fair. We are looking for the animal barns and are having trouble finding them. When I think I know where we are everything moves. We get a good tour of the fair and Teri and I eat so fair gumbo and the girls eat some chicken and fries, we have had better. We find the bans a little after dark (we left at 2:30 got to the fair around 4:30; it’s now about 7:45.) I feel the wind start to pick up and the clouds in the west are coming if fast I point this out to Teri and say we should go because it looks like a bad storm is coming. Teri wasn’t concerned and it was a good thing we didn’t leave because the best was yet to come. We found the Dutchess County hunt clubs animal exhibit. It was filled with live animals. Alligators, bobcats, monkeys, tigers and with some of them you could get your picture with them. The girls got their picture taken with a fennec fox, it’s got big ears and they both fell in love with it. After that they got to pet cows, goats and sheep before we left to find the horses, which we could not pet because they might bit. The girls were impressed with the weight and the size of the horses. After the horses we watched pig races and then found another petting zoo.
Now you would thing the girls were angels the whole evening. Well I saved all the fun for the end. After eating the girls each had ten bucks burning a hole in their pocket and they decided that they wanted to play games with it. They were warned to choose wisely. They sat down at several water games and a couple of games to throw darts at balloons near the end of their wad of cash they did start to look at the prices of the games and to choose a little wiser. They won a fish because the fish game guy let Elena win a fish after her sister won. Once out of money the phrase ‘do you have any money?’ was uttered a few times.
At the end of the night we all had a snack of ice cream for me, an Icee for each of the girls, and then Teri asks if I want to try fried Oreo cookies? I of course say yes. They were amazingly good. The outside was soft and crispy and the cookie was soft and sweet, really good.
We leave the fair at 10:30, the GPS takes us north to the Kingston-Rheincliff bridge in the opposite direction of all the traffic. I thought it was a mistake, but then I thought about the traffic and kept going. We stopped at a rest stop around 11:30 and got something to eat and drink. We got home around 12:30, my head hit the pillow around 1am and sleep finally hit after 1:30. All in all a very good day, a much needed family time.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Bachelor father
Tonights episode will be in living color...
In tonight’s episode, bachelor father has stayed late at work and his baby-sitter went to the movies and bachelor father is once again imposing on his father in law, who thank god doesn’t mind. Bachelor father has had a rough week and has had his boss chewing on his ass, what’s left of it all week, but have no fear bachelor father will rise to the occasion and yell at his kids and make them unhappy, he will come home and even before he steps into the home have a fight with his wife(long distant telephone fights are always ratings grabbers) Then as a topper, the dogs will have messed in the house, someone will step in it and not notice( some scenes may be added, dramatized or time maybe be condensed to fit into the half hour formula required for sitcoms) Bachelor father will leave the air after a fun filled weekend where he doesn’t cook a thing for his little darlings, sends them to bed at their bedtime on a non-school night and worst of all misses his wife. This sitcom will end Monday when their flight lands at Newark sometime in the evening coming from Vegas.
In tonight’s episode, bachelor father has stayed late at work and his baby-sitter went to the movies and bachelor father is once again imposing on his father in law, who thank god doesn’t mind. Bachelor father has had a rough week and has had his boss chewing on his ass, what’s left of it all week, but have no fear bachelor father will rise to the occasion and yell at his kids and make them unhappy, he will come home and even before he steps into the home have a fight with his wife(long distant telephone fights are always ratings grabbers) Then as a topper, the dogs will have messed in the house, someone will step in it and not notice( some scenes may be added, dramatized or time maybe be condensed to fit into the half hour formula required for sitcoms) Bachelor father will leave the air after a fun filled weekend where he doesn’t cook a thing for his little darlings, sends them to bed at their bedtime on a non-school night and worst of all misses his wife. This sitcom will end Monday when their flight lands at Newark sometime in the evening coming from Vegas.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
The good life
Sometimes you have to just look at life and be amazed at how full it is and how lucky you are. Things can hit you one way and then you look at them and hit you another.
Alot happened today. After I stopped talking about the trip to Russia, I went out to mow Tony's lawn. Teri was not pleased that I waited until 11:30 to do it, she wanted to go out and shop for Elena's birthday. I got back in time and Teri left for the store. the strange things, I guess that is not a proper word, but it will have to do until I can think of a better one. The strange things started to happen when it started to rain and the girls asked if they could come in from outside and go watch TV. I would not let them inside on such a beautiful day. It started to rain about four and Elena wanted to take a bath instead of a shower, fine I said. I finished up making chili and let it simmer on the stove at a very low temp. I think this makes for the best chili, and I went to see how hard it was raining and it wasn't, so I started mowing the lawn. About half way into the lawn it starts to rain and it gets harder and I think I've done enough for the day. I come in and check the chili, as I stir it I hear water running as if a pipe is broken and I did most of the plumbing on the house so I figure it has to be a pipe. I run to the cellar and listen and I hear nothing. I realize the sound is coming from the hallway. Elena had started to run a bath for herself and the tub had filled up and the shower curtain had caught in the upper drain and the water had begun to pour out of the tub and seep between the cracks in the floor and to drip down the stairs and out the holes in the archway. Now hours later it is a little funny. then it was "What the hell is going on up there?" I race upstairs and I see the tub over flowing and one daughter, Elena going into the bathroom saying "I'm sorry daddy, I didn't mean to do it."
The thing that bothers me the most is I have hit her, but not a lot and only once in the recent past when she picked up something from near a garbage can and it looked like she put it in her mouth. She said she was smelling it. I don't know I caught her in a lie two days later when I came into the house and see her drinking soda straight out of the bottle and when she was confronted by me said she was just looking at it, and she wasn't. But my point is I don't hit her, I yell and she saw me at the top of the stairs and the tub was over flowing and she shys away from me as if I was going to give her the back of my hand in anger. I don't know what I've done to her for her to think I would hit her like that. If she wasn't so afraid, I'd say I was hurt by her reaction. I have to talk to her about it.
The water got sopped up and the house dried out quickly some how and I talked to Teri and told her what happened and not to get angry. We all talked about it over dinner and I don't know if she will get to take a bath anytime soon. She let the tub run over because she was watching TV. That TV will be turned off when showers are taken for now on.
The other thing that happened was Athena got sprayed by a skunk and we used tomato juice we used on kodi when we first moved here and it had gone out of date in 2007. It looked like tomato sauce, but it smelled ok, better then Athena. I miss Kodi and Mo.
Alot happened today. After I stopped talking about the trip to Russia, I went out to mow Tony's lawn. Teri was not pleased that I waited until 11:30 to do it, she wanted to go out and shop for Elena's birthday. I got back in time and Teri left for the store. the strange things, I guess that is not a proper word, but it will have to do until I can think of a better one. The strange things started to happen when it started to rain and the girls asked if they could come in from outside and go watch TV. I would not let them inside on such a beautiful day. It started to rain about four and Elena wanted to take a bath instead of a shower, fine I said. I finished up making chili and let it simmer on the stove at a very low temp. I think this makes for the best chili, and I went to see how hard it was raining and it wasn't, so I started mowing the lawn. About half way into the lawn it starts to rain and it gets harder and I think I've done enough for the day. I come in and check the chili, as I stir it I hear water running as if a pipe is broken and I did most of the plumbing on the house so I figure it has to be a pipe. I run to the cellar and listen and I hear nothing. I realize the sound is coming from the hallway. Elena had started to run a bath for herself and the tub had filled up and the shower curtain had caught in the upper drain and the water had begun to pour out of the tub and seep between the cracks in the floor and to drip down the stairs and out the holes in the archway. Now hours later it is a little funny. then it was "What the hell is going on up there?" I race upstairs and I see the tub over flowing and one daughter, Elena going into the bathroom saying "I'm sorry daddy, I didn't mean to do it."
The thing that bothers me the most is I have hit her, but not a lot and only once in the recent past when she picked up something from near a garbage can and it looked like she put it in her mouth. She said she was smelling it. I don't know I caught her in a lie two days later when I came into the house and see her drinking soda straight out of the bottle and when she was confronted by me said she was just looking at it, and she wasn't. But my point is I don't hit her, I yell and she saw me at the top of the stairs and the tub was over flowing and she shys away from me as if I was going to give her the back of my hand in anger. I don't know what I've done to her for her to think I would hit her like that. If she wasn't so afraid, I'd say I was hurt by her reaction. I have to talk to her about it.
The water got sopped up and the house dried out quickly some how and I talked to Teri and told her what happened and not to get angry. We all talked about it over dinner and I don't know if she will get to take a bath anytime soon. She let the tub run over because she was watching TV. That TV will be turned off when showers are taken for now on.
The other thing that happened was Athena got sprayed by a skunk and we used tomato juice we used on kodi when we first moved here and it had gone out of date in 2007. It looked like tomato sauce, but it smelled ok, better then Athena. I miss Kodi and Mo.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Another Saturday night and I ain't got nobody....
Well, it's not Saturday night it is only Saturday morning and we are in the middle of a typical Saturday. I got up early, usually Teri does, I thought it would be nice to get up and have a little quiet time and read the paper. We have Pop-pop over this weekend and he is asleep in the back bedroom as are the girls in their room.
I got the paper and sat down at the table with my morning beverage,soda, never got the coffee habit. ask my wife to tell you the story, she likes to add sarcasism and it's a lot mre interesting to hear from her then when I tell it.
My quiet time lasted until my wife came down and turned on the tv, because Lucy turned 100 today and she needed to see some Lucy.
I put the girls to bed early last night because they had not been to bed on time all week and I really couldn't stand them any more last night. They didn't do anything, I was just tired.
Teri and Nastia did get into a play fight about Teri not being her mother and if that was so then Nastia could go. That might of started my bad mood, I didn't think it was funny. Later Teri said it hurt.
Since the girls were put to bed early they got up early and for a little while anyway they stayed up stairs. But like all good plans they didn't stay there. So now I am writing this at 10 am Teri and her father are reading the paper, the TV is on and no one is watching Lucy, the dog is barking at something from the upstairs window, the girls are playing Nintendo and I stop writing every so often to tell them to turn down the sound on the games. And now the phone is ringing.
What started the idea to write this was the girls got out cereal and again didn't close up the boxes. Teri goes into the cabinet and don't you just know it the cereal, which is balanced on top of two cans of condensed soup falls and turns over spilling out it contents all over the box of oatmeal, I should be eating, the jars of sauce and other assorted groceries. Teri yells, and who wouldn't, she asks them who didn't close the cereal box ? Of course no one left it open and it was my sister who was the last one to use it. Both are told to clean up this mess and how many times has your father told you to close the cereal box up? It's nice to know someone does listen to what I say. No the girls and my wife only listens when it can be used against me.
So life goes on in this strange world we have created and for the life of me I never could of imagined.
I've thought alot about the last few years and written about a lot of it. Some memories; The day we left for Moscow was warm and sunny. It was I think a Saturday and the car service driver had the Yankee game on. I was a little tired,but happy. I slept sort of on the way to the airport, the driver had bottles of water for us to drink, a nice touch.
At the airport we get on line for the Russian airliner and I hear someone speaking Russian, it hits me that we are going to a place that doesn't speak English, I am still calm, I don't know why. Maybe it's the big adventure of it all.
We get on the plane, it takes off and the TV have airplanes on a map of North America showing us where we are. Then the movies come on. I remember wanting to see Ireland and England and Germany and the rest of Europe as we passed over it and being disappointed because it was all covered with clouds.
The day has become night and the night passes quickly, we fly towards the sun.
We land in Moscow and our first flicker of doubt appears. We are the last ones off the plane and the last ones through customs. We stop and use the rest room and finally find our driver. He puts on what might be a soft rock station. Some is in English, some is in Russian. The car is Japanese, but is right side drive. some cars in Russia are left some are right side. We head out of town and arrive at a villa sort of place surrounded by houses, it seemed odd. We order a meal and go to bed in Russia, amazing.
The next day we take off and after several cloud filled hours later we land in the far east of Russia, Harabosk.
My wife has politely informed me that the day is wasting and my chores will not do themselves. So I'll finish later.
I got the paper and sat down at the table with my morning beverage,soda, never got the coffee habit. ask my wife to tell you the story, she likes to add sarcasism and it's a lot mre interesting to hear from her then when I tell it.
My quiet time lasted until my wife came down and turned on the tv, because Lucy turned 100 today and she needed to see some Lucy.
I put the girls to bed early last night because they had not been to bed on time all week and I really couldn't stand them any more last night. They didn't do anything, I was just tired.
Teri and Nastia did get into a play fight about Teri not being her mother and if that was so then Nastia could go. That might of started my bad mood, I didn't think it was funny. Later Teri said it hurt.
Since the girls were put to bed early they got up early and for a little while anyway they stayed up stairs. But like all good plans they didn't stay there. So now I am writing this at 10 am Teri and her father are reading the paper, the TV is on and no one is watching Lucy, the dog is barking at something from the upstairs window, the girls are playing Nintendo and I stop writing every so often to tell them to turn down the sound on the games. And now the phone is ringing.
What started the idea to write this was the girls got out cereal and again didn't close up the boxes. Teri goes into the cabinet and don't you just know it the cereal, which is balanced on top of two cans of condensed soup falls and turns over spilling out it contents all over the box of oatmeal, I should be eating, the jars of sauce and other assorted groceries. Teri yells, and who wouldn't, she asks them who didn't close the cereal box ? Of course no one left it open and it was my sister who was the last one to use it. Both are told to clean up this mess and how many times has your father told you to close the cereal box up? It's nice to know someone does listen to what I say. No the girls and my wife only listens when it can be used against me.
So life goes on in this strange world we have created and for the life of me I never could of imagined.
I've thought alot about the last few years and written about a lot of it. Some memories; The day we left for Moscow was warm and sunny. It was I think a Saturday and the car service driver had the Yankee game on. I was a little tired,but happy. I slept sort of on the way to the airport, the driver had bottles of water for us to drink, a nice touch.
At the airport we get on line for the Russian airliner and I hear someone speaking Russian, it hits me that we are going to a place that doesn't speak English, I am still calm, I don't know why. Maybe it's the big adventure of it all.
We get on the plane, it takes off and the TV have airplanes on a map of North America showing us where we are. Then the movies come on. I remember wanting to see Ireland and England and Germany and the rest of Europe as we passed over it and being disappointed because it was all covered with clouds.
The day has become night and the night passes quickly, we fly towards the sun.
We land in Moscow and our first flicker of doubt appears. We are the last ones off the plane and the last ones through customs. We stop and use the rest room and finally find our driver. He puts on what might be a soft rock station. Some is in English, some is in Russian. The car is Japanese, but is right side drive. some cars in Russia are left some are right side. We head out of town and arrive at a villa sort of place surrounded by houses, it seemed odd. We order a meal and go to bed in Russia, amazing.
The next day we take off and after several cloud filled hours later we land in the far east of Russia, Harabosk.
My wife has politely informed me that the day is wasting and my chores will not do themselves. So I'll finish later.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Summer Bridge of Hope Party
We attended our third Bridge of Hope party. Every year the same wonderful people open up their home to a bunch of people and their kids and make you feel very welcome. This year the weather was very warm and we reconnected with a bunch of people who have gone on the same adventure as us, some were crazy enough to do it twice. I am still amazed that I did it once.
We met Howard and Marty in the parking lot and their son Vanya. They were in the same group as we were and they went over in the winter and early spring, when we didn’t get there until late summer. I’d still rather be in Birobidzan in summer after seeing their pictures. Snow and cold vs. ravenous mosquitoes, I’ll take the mosquitoes.
We also saw Fran and CJ, with their sons. Sat and talked to both and made plans to get together, now the trick is to get the time to do it.
I was surprised when a couple of people commented about my blog. I thought I was down to one loyal reader, Elaine. I will try to post a little more often, life does get in the way sometimes and you know.
Some people asked me how we are doing with the girls and for some reason I dug a little deeper into just how we are doing. Like any family we have our good days and then we have the days were you are screaming at the girls and you feel that you are lost and you are the worst parent in the world and it was a big mistake and the girls would have been better off with someone else and how different life would be and how smug I could of remained in my opinions about the right way to raise children. I have gotten an answer to that age old question that I’ve asked “Why do parents let their children do that?” And the answer is we’re just too damn tired to stop them for the forty-seventh time and if it doesn’t kill them maybe this time it can be over looked.
Yesterday, I saw a mom talked to her two children and the kids were no responding, at all. I saw another quietly yelling at her son (I know, you can’t quietly yell at someone, unless you’re a parent.) who was told to leave the chair alone and continued to move it anyway. I’ve been there and done that. I sorry, but it was nice to see I’m not the only one who has these problems with their kids.
I talked to a women whose daughter has some rather large issues and she was very open about it. I don’t have issues like hers and I thank god so far my wife and I don’t. Raising two kids, I knew was going to be expensive, but I didn’t expect it to be this expensive and the demands from our respective jobs increased and a lot of our supports disappear due to the same demands. I think my biggest disappointment is the lack of time we have to spend with the girls. You would like to arrange play dates with other kids and it can’t be during the week, because you are working and on the weekend they are doing something with their family and can’t.
On a lighter note, Howard comes up to me and says he was up at the snack table when Nastia comes up and picks up a cupcake. A woman says to her in Russia something and a girl next to her says she said there is paper on the cupcake. Nastia says I know I’ve been here two years.
An explanation on the opening inside joke from the last posting. We have very gassy girls. On the way home last night Nastia says to Elena, I’ve got gas so bad, I am going fart on you and your grandchild will smell.
We did get some information about Elena having a half sister. She is in Chicago with a host family who are trying to see if they can handle her and adopt her.
We met Howard and Marty in the parking lot and their son Vanya. They were in the same group as we were and they went over in the winter and early spring, when we didn’t get there until late summer. I’d still rather be in Birobidzan in summer after seeing their pictures. Snow and cold vs. ravenous mosquitoes, I’ll take the mosquitoes.
We also saw Fran and CJ, with their sons. Sat and talked to both and made plans to get together, now the trick is to get the time to do it.
I was surprised when a couple of people commented about my blog. I thought I was down to one loyal reader, Elaine. I will try to post a little more often, life does get in the way sometimes and you know.
Some people asked me how we are doing with the girls and for some reason I dug a little deeper into just how we are doing. Like any family we have our good days and then we have the days were you are screaming at the girls and you feel that you are lost and you are the worst parent in the world and it was a big mistake and the girls would have been better off with someone else and how different life would be and how smug I could of remained in my opinions about the right way to raise children. I have gotten an answer to that age old question that I’ve asked “Why do parents let their children do that?” And the answer is we’re just too damn tired to stop them for the forty-seventh time and if it doesn’t kill them maybe this time it can be over looked.
Yesterday, I saw a mom talked to her two children and the kids were no responding, at all. I saw another quietly yelling at her son (I know, you can’t quietly yell at someone, unless you’re a parent.) who was told to leave the chair alone and continued to move it anyway. I’ve been there and done that. I sorry, but it was nice to see I’m not the only one who has these problems with their kids.
I talked to a women whose daughter has some rather large issues and she was very open about it. I don’t have issues like hers and I thank god so far my wife and I don’t. Raising two kids, I knew was going to be expensive, but I didn’t expect it to be this expensive and the demands from our respective jobs increased and a lot of our supports disappear due to the same demands. I think my biggest disappointment is the lack of time we have to spend with the girls. You would like to arrange play dates with other kids and it can’t be during the week, because you are working and on the weekend they are doing something with their family and can’t.
On a lighter note, Howard comes up to me and says he was up at the snack table when Nastia comes up and picks up a cupcake. A woman says to her in Russia something and a girl next to her says she said there is paper on the cupcake. Nastia says I know I’ve been here two years.
An explanation on the opening inside joke from the last posting. We have very gassy girls. On the way home last night Nastia says to Elena, I’ve got gas so bad, I am going fart on you and your grandchild will smell.
We did get some information about Elena having a half sister. She is in Chicago with a host family who are trying to see if they can handle her and adopt her.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Waiting for the summer
At the end of our last chapter, we left Nastia hanging from the cliff while Elena was facing down Dr. Death in an effort to get the medicine to cure an out break of excess flatulence.
I wrote that line on May 30th 2011 and Iv'e laughed so long at how funny it is that it is now July 8th 2011.
The girls have finished school for the year and are in camp somewhere deep in the heart of Elmwood park. So if anyone one would like to go and pick them up one day all you have to say is "I'm Aunt or Uncle So" and so and they are yours for the taking. Just remember finders keepers.
Memorial day I suffered a severe case of C.R.S. (for all of you uninformed that's Can't remember sh*t) yea no little kid will figure that one out. Well we had a barbecue, one of those last minute things that Muller's are famous for at my mothers house. Cory and Ryan were not there and we didn't play wiffle ball for the first time in years. I'm not saying there is a connection, because Billy and Dennis weren't there either.
Time flew very fast and it was suddenly it was the end of the school year and Nastia was graduating elementary school. It seems like it was only a few years ago that I dropped this non-English speaking little girl off with her sister and hoped they would survive until the end of the day.
July 4th we barbecued in the backyard and walked down to the new park at the lake to get a close up look at the fireworks.Come to think of it, it was the twenty-sixth or seventh the week before and we spent the afternoon at the fire department's carnival. The girls went on several rides and met some friends and walked off without telling anyone and got yelled at so everyone had fun.
Now it's just camp, dinner, fall asleep at the table or in front of the tv, get up go to bed and wake up and do it all again. Should anyone be allowed to have this much fun and not be arrested?!
There will be more soon, again I'm laughing at how funny that opening line is....
I wrote that line on May 30th 2011 and Iv'e laughed so long at how funny it is that it is now July 8th 2011.
The girls have finished school for the year and are in camp somewhere deep in the heart of Elmwood park. So if anyone one would like to go and pick them up one day all you have to say is "I'm Aunt or Uncle So" and so and they are yours for the taking. Just remember finders keepers.
Memorial day I suffered a severe case of C.R.S. (for all of you uninformed that's Can't remember sh*t) yea no little kid will figure that one out. Well we had a barbecue, one of those last minute things that Muller's are famous for at my mothers house. Cory and Ryan were not there and we didn't play wiffle ball for the first time in years. I'm not saying there is a connection, because Billy and Dennis weren't there either.
Time flew very fast and it was suddenly it was the end of the school year and Nastia was graduating elementary school. It seems like it was only a few years ago that I dropped this non-English speaking little girl off with her sister and hoped they would survive until the end of the day.
July 4th we barbecued in the backyard and walked down to the new park at the lake to get a close up look at the fireworks.Come to think of it, it was the twenty-sixth or seventh the week before and we spent the afternoon at the fire department's carnival. The girls went on several rides and met some friends and walked off without telling anyone and got yelled at so everyone had fun.
Now it's just camp, dinner, fall asleep at the table or in front of the tv, get up go to bed and wake up and do it all again. Should anyone be allowed to have this much fun and not be arrested?!
There will be more soon, again I'm laughing at how funny that opening line is....
Sunday, February 27, 2011
The Winter is almost over
It 's been sometime since I've written and very little has happened. Well very little if you exclude the girls going to their first New Years and staying up until two in the morning then telling me they were going to watch the sun come up from the back bedroom and almost as quickly as I said ok as long as you are in bed they were asleep.
We had my birthday dinner at El Bandido and I promised the girls five dollars each if they did not say it was my birthday. Nastia said ok, Elena said twenty dollars. after I quit laughing we settled on six. They didn't collect on the promise. Five minutes after we sat down the traveling band is singing happy birthday to me.
And yesterday Teri brings the girls ice skating while I stayed home to make dinner. I get a call about five telling me they are heading to the emergency room Nastia fell on her wrist and is crying saying it hurts.
I am very sorry about what I am about to write. I have fallen, tripped, and whatever else and never gone to the emergency room to have it looked at. I twisted my ankle so badly that I couldn't walk on it yet I still went to school. Yea, and right about now your telling me stories about how I most of had to walk to school five miles in blizzards three feet high up hill both ways. Well in my school we used to joke that the superintendent used to look out his window before he'd call off school, the catch was he was wintering in Florida at the time.
Well surprise, surprise Nastia comes home with a honkin big cast on her arm and is told to see a doctor next week to put a hard cast on it. Again I'm sure it hurts and I'm sure there is a fracture, but when I was growing up... I know, shut up. This is a Laudiero thing and the only advantage I can see in going to the emergency room all the time like Teri does is her family happens to out live my family on average. Not really a significant thing (yea, I know, I'm making a joke and Teri doesn't find any humor in it) .
The girls have also gone sleigh riding over in Orangeburg a couple of times and they did real well on their snow boards for the few times they tried them.
The girls want to learn karate and we are trying to find a place that is close and has lessons that are at a time we can get them there. With both of us working it is difficult and we don't have many options. We will find someplace to take them and we will also get them to try out for the jr high swim team if there is such a thing.
We had my birthday dinner at El Bandido and I promised the girls five dollars each if they did not say it was my birthday. Nastia said ok, Elena said twenty dollars. after I quit laughing we settled on six. They didn't collect on the promise. Five minutes after we sat down the traveling band is singing happy birthday to me.
And yesterday Teri brings the girls ice skating while I stayed home to make dinner. I get a call about five telling me they are heading to the emergency room Nastia fell on her wrist and is crying saying it hurts.
I am very sorry about what I am about to write. I have fallen, tripped, and whatever else and never gone to the emergency room to have it looked at. I twisted my ankle so badly that I couldn't walk on it yet I still went to school. Yea, and right about now your telling me stories about how I most of had to walk to school five miles in blizzards three feet high up hill both ways. Well in my school we used to joke that the superintendent used to look out his window before he'd call off school, the catch was he was wintering in Florida at the time.
Well surprise, surprise Nastia comes home with a honkin big cast on her arm and is told to see a doctor next week to put a hard cast on it. Again I'm sure it hurts and I'm sure there is a fracture, but when I was growing up... I know, shut up. This is a Laudiero thing and the only advantage I can see in going to the emergency room all the time like Teri does is her family happens to out live my family on average. Not really a significant thing (yea, I know, I'm making a joke and Teri doesn't find any humor in it) .
The girls have also gone sleigh riding over in Orangeburg a couple of times and they did real well on their snow boards for the few times they tried them.
The girls want to learn karate and we are trying to find a place that is close and has lessons that are at a time we can get them there. With both of us working it is difficult and we don't have many options. We will find someplace to take them and we will also get them to try out for the jr high swim team if there is such a thing.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Christmas Fables
As we all know parents lie. And yes we all know salesmen lie. Being both I’m just better at it, my wife may disagree, but I think I’m pretty good at it. Not that I am really proud about it, it is just a fact of my life. Sometimes I can put it to good use.
Last week I was telling the girls a story about when I was a little kid I had wanted to sneak out of my bed and hide behind the biggest chair in the living room and see Santa Claus leave present. That is the truth. The girls thought that was a wonderful idea and wanted to do it this year. I told them they couldn’t and I had once met Santa Claus, somehow the following story came out, sort of remember I’m a salesman and a father.
A few years ago while we were still in the house in Nyack on Christmas Eve it was late and I was in the recliner falling asleep, you know the one that is now in the bed room upstairs. Your mother had said to come to bed, it’s late. I said I would come to bed in just a minute. I fell back to sleep. I hear a rustling of material against material and think it’s your mother coming out to get me to bed. I open an eye half way and see someone bending over the still lit Christmas tree humming quietly to them self and old song that I had remembered hearing on an old Christmas movie. I turn on my side and the song stops and I start to drift back to sleep when a deep voice chuckles. I slowly open my eye again and this time a bearded face is turned towards me. His white beard hangs down and just touches his red coat. His face is creased and his cheeks are red, his smile never leaves his face as he puts a single finger to his lips and quietly says sleep, it’s the lord’s birthday. My eyes close and I go back to sleep. I wake up the next morning having forgotten the story until just now.
The above story is the way it only happens in fairy tales and the movies. The real way I told it was we were living in Nyack several years ago, it was Christmas Eve and I had fallen asleep in the brown chair in the living room. I was awakened by a sound and I looked up to see Santa Claus putting presents under our tree. He put a single finger to his lips telling me to be quiet and he went about his business as I feel back asleep.
The girls got a big kick out of the fact that I have met Santa Claus.
Last week I was telling the girls a story about when I was a little kid I had wanted to sneak out of my bed and hide behind the biggest chair in the living room and see Santa Claus leave present. That is the truth. The girls thought that was a wonderful idea and wanted to do it this year. I told them they couldn’t and I had once met Santa Claus, somehow the following story came out, sort of remember I’m a salesman and a father.
A few years ago while we were still in the house in Nyack on Christmas Eve it was late and I was in the recliner falling asleep, you know the one that is now in the bed room upstairs. Your mother had said to come to bed, it’s late. I said I would come to bed in just a minute. I fell back to sleep. I hear a rustling of material against material and think it’s your mother coming out to get me to bed. I open an eye half way and see someone bending over the still lit Christmas tree humming quietly to them self and old song that I had remembered hearing on an old Christmas movie. I turn on my side and the song stops and I start to drift back to sleep when a deep voice chuckles. I slowly open my eye again and this time a bearded face is turned towards me. His white beard hangs down and just touches his red coat. His face is creased and his cheeks are red, his smile never leaves his face as he puts a single finger to his lips and quietly says sleep, it’s the lord’s birthday. My eyes close and I go back to sleep. I wake up the next morning having forgotten the story until just now.
The above story is the way it only happens in fairy tales and the movies. The real way I told it was we were living in Nyack several years ago, it was Christmas Eve and I had fallen asleep in the brown chair in the living room. I was awakened by a sound and I looked up to see Santa Claus putting presents under our tree. He put a single finger to his lips telling me to be quiet and he went about his business as I feel back asleep.
The girls got a big kick out of the fact that I have met Santa Claus.
Thanksgiving, twelve birthday candles on her cake and putting up the christmas tree.
2010 is the first year that we had Thanksgiving over our house. Teri insisted on it. I had my doubts on the idea mainly because we had never been able to cook a turkey and have it cooked on the inside and the outside. This year I guess god was cutting use a break because the Turkey came out very good. It was browned on the outside and cooked and moist on the inside. We had planned on a two pm dinner which in Muller time is three, three-thirty, so we were right on time.
Teri’s family came over for dinner and the girls and I and Tony went over to Eric’s after dinner to socialize with my family. It is a shame that I get to see less and less of them as time gets shorter and shorter. Life becomes more and more filled with have tos and got tos and I feel everything that matters gets lost or wrapped up in the doing and after it is over has lost the impact on me or my family that it was intended to. We do too much of what is expected and far less of what we need to do. And if you don’t understand that it’s ok, neither do I.
Nastia’s birthday was on Friday and she did a count-down for the last week or so saying there is only three days, two days… until my birthday. Then she would give that smile.
Well the four of us went out to dinner on Friday; I got out of work early. And we went to the hard wok, the Chinese buffet, that has crab legs that Nastia loves and she feasted on them.
Saturday, we had Tacos and invited all the rest of the family over and to my surprise everyone came. Thank you all for coming. Ruth didn’t come because she was in Florida and had a note from her doctor.
Today we set up the Christmas tree. After about four days of when are we going to put up the Christmas tree and how come not tonight? Teri and I finally decided to put it up. It was raining and there were blizzards in Buffalo (3’ to 4’ in 24hrs) and the roof of the metrodome in Minnesota fell in (it had 17” of snow on it again in 24hrs) so it was a good idea to stay inside and put up the tree.
We have a fake tree that we bought several years ago while still in the Nyack house. It is fake, but it is low maintance and familiar, so even though Teri said when we originally got it we would go back and forth between real and fake, I haven’t. Putting up the tree is a little involved. The main trunk is divided into three pieces and fits nicely together. The top piece has the upper third of the branches and is a pain to straighten it out each year, but putting it together is a breeze. The lower two-thirds have branches with letters on them, some of them. Over the years the branches began to unravel and I tried to tape them and on some the letters are missing or unreadable. There is also letters missing between the groups, so it is a little confusing. Each group has five or six branches that need to have the individual branches straightened. Then the branch is put in its proper place. Some years I have spent two days putting this damn tree together. Today it only took a couple of hours, not too bad. Then the lights went on. Usually on day three I would be putting on the lights and on the forth the ornaments would go on.
I have been collecting ornaments for my Christmas tree since just after my dad died and I moved out of my mother’s house( yea, I moved out late. I just didn’t know what I was missing.) so I have a nice little collection of ornaments some I got from my mother and are real old, one silver one is from when my dad was a kid in the thirties or there about. Others are one I remember from when I was a child and even though they are really junky I have begun to cherish them more and more with each passing year. And yes the girls have no idea how much I cherish them and how it kills me when they are miss treated and occasionally broken. So the ornaments are bought down and they both go tearing into them and the bubble wrap that has been protecting some for twenty years is threatened with being popped and the clear plastic that holds the ornaments in place is left out and in danger of being crushed beyond use. Do I lack Christmas spirit when I tell them to be careful and to not pop the bubble wrap and to be careful with the ornaments? I must admit from their view point it must seem strange, I can see it in their eyes, it’s only pieces of paper or bubble wrap, why can’t I pop the bubble wrap, you can get more. I guess I don’t say enough to them to make them understand the importance of these things. I stay silent until it gets me angry and I go off on them and they are left wondering what type of jerk their father is.
Well Christmas is a little less than two weeks away and I hope you all have gotten your Christmas shopping done, because I still need to get finished and I don’t want you getting in my way. Merry Christmas.
Lastly w
Teri’s family came over for dinner and the girls and I and Tony went over to Eric’s after dinner to socialize with my family. It is a shame that I get to see less and less of them as time gets shorter and shorter. Life becomes more and more filled with have tos and got tos and I feel everything that matters gets lost or wrapped up in the doing and after it is over has lost the impact on me or my family that it was intended to. We do too much of what is expected and far less of what we need to do. And if you don’t understand that it’s ok, neither do I.
Nastia’s birthday was on Friday and she did a count-down for the last week or so saying there is only three days, two days… until my birthday. Then she would give that smile.
Well the four of us went out to dinner on Friday; I got out of work early. And we went to the hard wok, the Chinese buffet, that has crab legs that Nastia loves and she feasted on them.
Saturday, we had Tacos and invited all the rest of the family over and to my surprise everyone came. Thank you all for coming. Ruth didn’t come because she was in Florida and had a note from her doctor.
We have a fake tree that we bought several years ago while still in the Nyack house. It is fake, but it is low maintance and familiar, so even though Teri said when we originally got it we would go back and forth between real and fake, I haven’t. Putting up the tree is a little involved. The main trunk is divided into three pieces and fits nicely together. The top piece has the upper third of the branches and is a pain to straighten it out each year, but putting it together is a breeze. The lower two-thirds have branches with letters on them, some of them. Over the years the branches began to unravel and I tried to tape them and on some the letters are missing or unreadable. There is also letters missing between the groups, so it is a little confusing. Each group has five or six branches that need to have the individual branches straightened. Then the branch is put in its proper place. Some years I have spent two days putting this damn tree together. Today it only took a couple of hours, not too bad. Then the lights went on. Usually on day three I would be putting on the lights and on the forth the ornaments would go on.
I have been collecting ornaments for my Christmas tree since just after my dad died and I moved out of my mother’s house( yea, I moved out late. I just didn’t know what I was missing.) so I have a nice little collection of ornaments some I got from my mother and are real old, one silver one is from when my dad was a kid in the thirties or there about. Others are one I remember from when I was a child and even though they are really junky I have begun to cherish them more and more with each passing year. And yes the girls have no idea how much I cherish them and how it kills me when they are miss treated and occasionally broken. So the ornaments are bought down and they both go tearing into them and the bubble wrap that has been protecting some for twenty years is threatened with being popped and the clear plastic that holds the ornaments in place is left out and in danger of being crushed beyond use. Do I lack Christmas spirit when I tell them to be careful and to not pop the bubble wrap and to be careful with the ornaments? I must admit from their view point it must seem strange, I can see it in their eyes, it’s only pieces of paper or bubble wrap, why can’t I pop the bubble wrap, you can get more. I guess I don’t say enough to them to make them understand the importance of these things. I stay silent until it gets me angry and I go off on them and they are left wondering what type of jerk their father is.
Well Christmas is a little less than two weeks away and I hope you all have gotten your Christmas shopping done, because I still need to get finished and I don’t want you getting in my way. Merry Christmas.
Lastly w
Lastly we had the annual Cookie house decorating Saturday. Again Ruth was the only family to miss out on it this year. She was in Florida and yes she had a doctor’s note. About twenty-two people showed up and it was a crowded good time for all. The kids are getting a little older and it is a little tougher to send them outside so the adults can do their own thing, but they also don’t need supervision either as much.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Happy Halloween it's the lions again
I’m writing this two weeks after the fact so you will have to excuse me if I don’t remember a lot of things that happened and begin to make things up to fill in the blanks.
The girl this summer went to camp and had a Halloween day where they went as devils. They loved the costumes and wanted to use the costumes in October. Well they could not find them for the school parade and went as lions.
On Halloween their costumers were found buried on the floor of the closet. My isn’t that a surprise.
The plan for this year was all different from last year. Last year we got together with everyone else and the girls went out with Billy, Dennis, Cory and Ryan. This year we were going to go to a haunted house in upper Nyack, then trick or treat on Broadway.
I had decided to make Cajun meatloaf for dinner during the week and to make fajitas for dinner that night. I started on the meatloaf at three-thirty and figured I had enough time to make both. I did but we were still an hour late, because I didn’t leave enough time to make both. Meaning there wasn’t enough time but I still make them and we ate dinner before we left.
We got down to Nyack and the Haunted house fifteen minutes after it had closed. Not a good start to the night for me. We then joined the flow of people on the street and went to several houses.
Trick or treating in Upper Nyack is like I think I remember it being as a kid. Thousands of kids out on the street and it's safe and fun.
Elena did almost get hit by a car. I walked between two cars and was in the process of telling the two of them to wait when Elena decides I was going to say run real fast and she darts out into the road. What saved her was the driver was going very slow and maybe my yelling stop at her. If she had hit the car she would have glanced off the passenger side door and should have been ok. Luckily we did not have to find out. She stopped in time and I then reached her and pulled her into my arms for safe keeping. Some people thought I pulled her out from near the car. I didn’t, I wasn’t close enough. It was scary. She will forget the incident as soon as she feels the need to rush out into traffic without looking.
The night ended early for them and late for us. They both got too little candy (them) and it is still early. And they had enough candy (Us) and it is getting late. It is another memorable Halloween. I just wish I could remember what they went as. When I add the pictures I’ll remember. It sucks getting old. The only thing good about it is you can raid their candy after they have gone to sleep.
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| Camp Halloween 2010 |
On Halloween their costumers were found buried on the floor of the closet. My isn’t that a surprise.
The plan for this year was all different from last year. Last year we got together with everyone else and the girls went out with Billy, Dennis, Cory and Ryan. This year we were going to go to a haunted house in upper Nyack, then trick or treat on Broadway.
I had decided to make Cajun meatloaf for dinner during the week and to make fajitas for dinner that night. I started on the meatloaf at three-thirty and figured I had enough time to make both. I did but we were still an hour late, because I didn’t leave enough time to make both. Meaning there wasn’t enough time but I still make them and we ate dinner before we left.
We got down to Nyack and the Haunted house fifteen minutes after it had closed. Not a good start to the night for me. We then joined the flow of people on the street and went to several houses.
Trick or treating in Upper Nyack is like I think I remember it being as a kid. Thousands of kids out on the street and it's safe and fun.
 |
| Yea, Lions again at the Halloween parade. |
Elena did almost get hit by a car. I walked between two cars and was in the process of telling the two of them to wait when Elena decides I was going to say run real fast and she darts out into the road. What saved her was the driver was going very slow and maybe my yelling stop at her. If she had hit the car she would have glanced off the passenger side door and should have been ok. Luckily we did not have to find out. She stopped in time and I then reached her and pulled her into my arms for safe keeping. Some people thought I pulled her out from near the car. I didn’t, I wasn’t close enough. It was scary. She will forget the incident as soon as she feels the need to rush out into traffic without looking.
The night ended early for them and late for us. They both got too little candy (them) and it is still early. And they had enough candy (Us) and it is getting late. It is another memorable Halloween. I just wish I could remember what they went as. When I add the pictures I’ll remember. It sucks getting old. The only thing good about it is you can raid their candy after they have gone to sleep.
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| One last beach picture before we go into Winter. |
Saturday, October 2, 2010
A year in a life
One year ago today I was home stressing about getting the girls in school and hoping that I didn’t take too much time before I went back to work.
It is a year later and the world is still here and I have a job and my wife and I still talk to each other, it is a lot less and there is no TV after ten pm mostly, but the world still continues to turn and things good and bad continue to happen in the world.
The only two major contributions that I made were when we got the reports on the girls and we were given a choice between two girls and a boy. One of the girls was supposed to be mentally handicapped and Teri was unsure what to do. I said take a chance we can always say we don’t want to adopt them. After a day or so we knew we would never be returning them. The other contribution I made has been lost, because I had to leave and check on the nut bread that Teri is making and I don’t remember it.
It is hard to believe that a year ago we would get on the computer and have it translate anything we wanted to say to the girls. We have not done that for at least six months. They speak English about as well as they speak Russian, which means that they are not very proficient in either language. Their school work is still below their grade level and I am concerned. Their adoption to our culture has been quick and startling. They hang around Amanda Monday through Friday in the afternoons and she is at that age where all the popular music comes from her. I remember when music was just music to me and I didn’t care what people felt was bad or good about the music. That has all changed. Lady Gaga, and all the other music acts that I don’t know and am very suspicious of and really don’t like because of no other reason than they are not my music and are singing about stuff that I don’t want my kid to hear. Is that clear? I know I didn’t understand it either.
The days of throwing the kids outside and letting them do what they want, like I used to do as a kid are long gone and I am sad for this generation. I would get home from school. Wait for my best friend Mike to get home from catholic school and then we would do what we wanted to do and do it outside mostly or in his basement or in my room, but the concept of a play date was and is ridiculous. That and using antiseptic wipes all the time and sheltering our kids from the outside world is little too much. I don’t mean we should put the kids outside and let them run wild and unsupervised like we were. There are too many greater dangers now, then before, time to get off my soap box.
To the girl’s Russian grandmother and both of their Russian fathers, both girls are alive and doing fine, better than I ever could have hoped for.
It is a year later and the world is still here and I have a job and my wife and I still talk to each other, it is a lot less and there is no TV after ten pm mostly, but the world still continues to turn and things good and bad continue to happen in the world.
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| Hallway in Valgium |
My life has changed. Several years ago if I was given the chance to look ahead to the year 2010 I would not really see much in my life that I would recognize. I’m not saying it is a bad life. It’s just very different than I ever imagined it, isn’t it always?
Growing up I had this fuzzy vision that I would get a job in the city work and get married around twenty-seven, have two, three kids and live my version of ‘father knows best’. It’s funny how life has other plans for you. There is a line in a John Lennon song (who on October 9th would of turned 70, and has been gone almost as long as he was alive) that life is what happens while you’re busy making plans and I guess that is what has happen to me.
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| Table for going away party |
I never would have ever adopted children if not for my wife. She was and is the unstoppable force behind all this life changing experience that has gone on and I say that with all love and admiration. Life with me is not easy and I could never have imagined adopting children, much less going to a country half way around the world and staying there for a month and then bring them home and trying to build a life.
The only two major contributions that I made were when we got the reports on the girls and we were given a choice between two girls and a boy. One of the girls was supposed to be mentally handicapped and Teri was unsure what to do. I said take a chance we can always say we don’t want to adopt them. After a day or so we knew we would never be returning them. The other contribution I made has been lost, because I had to leave and check on the nut bread that Teri is making and I don’t remember it.
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| Market outside hotel in Birobidjan |
The days of throwing the kids outside and letting them do what they want, like I used to do as a kid are long gone and I am sad for this generation. I would get home from school. Wait for my best friend Mike to get home from catholic school and then we would do what we wanted to do and do it outside mostly or in his basement or in my room, but the concept of a play date was and is ridiculous. That and using antiseptic wipes all the time and sheltering our kids from the outside world is little too much. I don’t mean we should put the kids outside and let them run wild and unsupervised like we were. There are too many greater dangers now, then before, time to get off my soap box.
To the girl’s Russian grandmother and both of their Russian fathers, both girls are alive and doing fine, better than I ever could have hoped for.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Summer's all gone
The Girls got to go swimming in early June and went to camp at the town camp and hated it. They went horseback riding, ice skating, and finally got to the beach the last week of August, just before a hurricane and the waves were really rough.
Elena celebrated her tenth birthday and she got a lot of presents from everyone. It was just like Nastia’s. We had a little party with just the immediate family, Tony and my Mom and we went to Nanuet restaurant because Elena wanted pizza. She and her sister then got gift certificates to go to toys r us and spend which they did. We didn’t have time to go out for cake so we had it at Nanuet restaurant. On the weekend we had a party for everyone in the family.
A couple of weeks later she invited a few kids to Dave and Busters, which didn’t work out because it was August and everyone was on vacation, so a few family members went to Dave and Busters and we all had a good time. We ate some lunch and it was nice. We ended the day at my mom’s at a little get together to see off my sister and her two kid who left to go to Florida the next day.
At the end of August we went to Seaside heights and stayed for two nights at the Cranberry Inn. It was funny listening to the two girls being so impressed by a simple motel room. "Oh wow, this is so nice, I love it". We went right away to the beach even though it was four in the afternoon and we stayed until about seven, had a late dinner at the Outback in Tom's River and went home.
The final day, saturday we stayed only until 4pm and we went to island beach which has no boardwalk and that was the day the waves were huge and rough. It was a good time and everyone had fun.
School is going to be a little rougher for the two of them. More is expected of them this year and they have a greater comand of English.
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| At the Orphanage September 2009 |
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Swimming Lessons
The girls started learning to swim in March. The first week we took them to the Felix Festa pool a swim meet was being held and the girls were very disappointed. We found out later the information was posted on their web site.
The next week they had their first lesson and they just loved everything about it. The week after that they were complaining that it wasn’t long enough and they wanted more time to swim.
The following two weeks were no swimming and I wonder if they will complain about it being too short next week.
The girls did Easter eggs tonight and they got it all over their hand and had a lot of fun. I did an egg and Teri did a few.
During dinner they girls sang and danced for us. Can you believe it shrimp scamp and a floor show? Can life get any better?
I had promised the girls a ball to replace the one that popped and hadn’t done it in two weeks so we went out to buy one and suddenly Elena wanted a game and not a ball, but Nastia wanted a ball and Elena got angry and say OK, you win and I got angry. I wanted them to compromise and it didn’t work. So I bought the balls and by the time we got home they had forgotten about the ball and didn’t play with them.
The next week they had their first lesson and they just loved everything about it. The week after that they were complaining that it wasn’t long enough and they wanted more time to swim.
The following two weeks were no swimming and I wonder if they will complain about it being too short next week.
During dinner they girls sang and danced for us. Can you believe it shrimp scamp and a floor show? Can life get any better?
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Reality comes up against ideals of raising kids and it sucks
Now I have kids and I have the answers to all of those questions and some I did not think to ask. I have written here several times about my short coming in my parenting skills and yesterday I asked myself why I insist on beating myself up in public, in front of the seven of you, more or less. The answer it turns out is I am not living up to those high standards that I had set for myself in raising these kids.
I don’t want to look back at their lives and think if I had only done things differently… I guess I would not be the first person to think that either.
The two of them are the greatest and I don’t say that because they are mine. I say that because it is true and they are great and I want to do my best to insure that they reach the potential I see inside the two of them.
I have also watched the parents of people I know and have not stopped being impressed by the jobs they are doing. It is not easy, well not as easy as it looked from the outside and with some of you it looked hard from the outside and that means it must have been unbearable. I don’t know how some of you have done it.
It doesn’t help to have two kids nine and ten come into your lives and not speak the language and to try and fit them into what has been the normal for the past ten or so years.
I took the kids to the park over at Valley Cottage the one my mother had been telling me about for the last month or so and they ran around and I carried them on my shoulders and they ran some more and ran even more and we then went over to Rockland Lake Park and saw a deer. I had to point the car headlight at the deer for them to see it the guy in front of me who was doing the same thing, looking for deer must of thought I was being a wise guy when I moved the car toward the side of the road and pointed the head light at the deer, because he moved on and didn’t stop. All this took a little over an hour and we had fun.
They also tried to jump off the swings and fly in the air. I got to admit that I encouraged them to do it. I remember when I was a kid in school I would swing as high as I could and the chains would go slack and at that point you would jump out of the swing. It was fun. They didn’t get that high Teri so you don’t have to worry. They got airborn only a little.
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