Simon, the Hunter

On my desk sitting beside the computer are a number of mementos sent by friends.  Slap up against the desk is the kitten's "tree".

Shortly after the kittens mastered climbing the tree, I would find some of those items lying on the floor beside the desk.  The first thing to get Lilli's attention was fluorescent pink feathered flamingo pen that sat in the pencil cup.  Lilli set about defeathering it.  That task has now been accomplished.  I've purchased more feathers and will be attaching them soon so her play can continue.  Now, though, those items that were once merely on the floor beside the desk are being moved into other rooms.

The other day I heard the cats playing on the floor.  I'd assumed Simon and Lilli were wrestling.  I was wrong.  When I looked, I saw that it was just Simon.  He had taken the little koala bear gift, and Simon was either loving it or killing it. Sometimes it's hard to tell, but Simon had successfully removed the koala's hat.

On a visit to see an e-list friend, she gave each of her guests a small pink elephant meant to hang on the lip of a beverage glass.  Mine usually is hanging from the flamingo pot hanger I received from the same person who gave me the flamingo pen.  The hanger/elephant pair also sit on my desk.  Now I frequently find the pot hanger on the floor beside the desk.  The elephant will be found as far from the desk as Simon carries it.  Earlier this morning, only seconds after I put the elephant and flamingo back on the desk, the elephant was back on the living room floor.

If you have a cat, have you discovered the joy they get in playing with the plastic ring to which plastic jug caps are attached?  If not, pry one off and toss it in the cat's direction.  Simon and Lilli entertain themselves and me  as they bat them around or carry them from place to place.  Eventually I'll have to pull the stove out and remove the accumulating collection.

All is quiet right now.  Evidently they're both taking naps, so I can gather these toys they borrow from me and put them back where they can find them.

At Last!

The holidays are officially finished.  As the crystal ball was falling in Times Square, so were the local temperatures.  As I write this on Sunday, the 3rd, the thermometer reads 6 with the wind chill a negative 14.  I will be going nowhere today!

New Year's Day I took the  family's picture  for next year's calendar.  I'm sharing it with you now, but don't tell Dawn or Matt.  (I want it to be a surprise along with the other selections that are added for each month.)  With all the football games televised on New Years, the traditional meal is casual.  Those who have seats in front of the TV fill their plates during commercials.  Matt and the kids abhor the smell of sauerkraut and those bites the kids must take are immediatlely followed by grimaces and a napkin to the mouth.  The other dishes -- pork, black-eyed peas, cornbread, mashed potatoes and our special greens substitute, molded pear salad, receive marks from more thumbs down to high praise.

Rather than battle the kittens to keep them from knocking holiday knick knacks off table tops, I restrained myself and put up only the tree and a couple Christmas night lights.  All those were packed away quickly on Monday.  Now the storage bins are sitting in the garage, and as soon as the temperature gets above freezing again, everything will be returned to the garage attic.

Saturday hours at the hospital gift shop have been changed.  With Christmas (and the associated  merchandise) behind us, sales will decline significantly and the need to be open for extended hours on weekends is no longer necessary.  My hours were noon to 4:00.  Now they're 2:00 to 5:00.  It's great to have my mornings free, but those three hours seemed sooooooooooo long yesterday!  It's all a matter of mental adjustment.  Give me time.  I'll get there!

So now we move into 2010.  Tomorrow the kids will be back in school, but I'm already getting back to my routine.  I'm looking forward to walking the track every other day.  But not until it's unnecessary to dress like the Michelin Man!  

BRANDON AND SOPHIA - 2009

January

Sophia was 6 last November and Brandon is now 9.

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

I'm Ready!

The gifts are wrapped, a handful compared to past years.  The grocery shopping is done.  It'll be a simple meal -- ham, roasted vegetables for those who will eat them and corn for those who won't.  Buttercrust rolls.  Peppermint ice cream in an oreo chocolate crust. 

Brett has entertained family and friends with e-mail from China.  When I woke up on the 11th, several notes from him were in my in-box:

(1)

Rule 1

Always stop at the hotel counter and have them write down your destination in Chinese

Or;

Print the address (in Chinese) from the internet.  Give that to the cabbie.

Easy as pie.

s/Brett-somewhere in Shanghai.

(2)

Rule #2

Never look out of the taxi driver's front windshield.  Always concentrate your eyes out the side windows as to avoid the hysteric reactions you may have.

(3)

And now I'm lost

(4)   

Uh oh

(5)

Rule #3

Always double check the address your hotel translates into Chinese for the taxi driver. Otherwise you may find yourself at a border crossing with no papers.

(6)

Rule #4

Don't misplace anything.  You will not be able to explain the simplest item for them to understand what it is you're describing.  Not even remotely!!!

A green hotfoot?  No, my green notebook!  Not cooked?  NOTEBOOK!!!  Dammit!

And then:

(7)

Rule #4-mystery solved!!!  Green notebook retrieved.

Fortunately Brett doesn't get upset when these mishaps occur.  And he did embellish his telling of his adventures.  There was no border problem.  The cabbie was unsure of Brett's destination, so Brett called the client's office and a person there instructed the cab driver where he should take Brett.  The notebook was left in the back seat of the real estate agent's car and after a phone call to him, the notebook was returned to Brett at his hotel the next day.

In his search for suitable office space and an apartment, Brett went first to Shanghai and then Beijing.  The cost to rent an apartment in Beijing is about one-third what it is in Shanghai.  He likes both cities for different reasons, so I'm confident he and Michelle will be happy wherever they live.

Michelle flew over last Friday.  She sent e-mail saying, "Brett met me at the airport and was kind enough to show up with a bag of crispy fried duck feet."  What a guy!  Obviously he put a lot of thought into presenting Michelle with something that would make her week's visit memorable.  They'll spend the days leading up to Christmas in Hong Kong and then fly home on the 26th.

A few days after Thanksgiving, Sophia was the recipient of the Elf on the Shelf she named Freddie. The first thing she does every morning when she wakes up is search the house to locate Freddie's perch for the day.  Brandon isn't ready to talk about the existence of Santa, probably because he realizes that the excitement of Christmas will be diminished if Santa really doesn't arrive with a sleigh filled with toys and come down the chimney but instead pulls into the garage and hurriedly stows packages where little eyes won't find them.  

Only a few days until Christmas.  I think I'm ready.

Where Does the Time Go?

Blogging was supposed to ease the task of journaling.  A few minutes a day, or at the longest, a week, to write about things happening around me.  But that's not been reality.  There's little that happens in a day that didn't also happen yesterday and will undoubtedly happen tomorrow.  Such is my life.  I'm not complaining, just noting why posts from Park Place are infrequent.  I simply have little to say!

But there have been some report-worthy activities.  In mid-November, Matt agreed to oversee Brandon and Sophia so Dawn and I could spend a few days with Brett and Michelle in California to celebrate Dawn's and Brett's November birthdays.   We spent some of our time together relaxing in their garden (although the picture was taken one afternoon when we went shopping).  Dawn and I relaxed as we thought about the chaos of the approaching winter holidays.  Brett and Michelle were preparing to spend some time overseas.

Brett left his previous employer in October and is now working for ValleyCrest, "an integrated landscape company that designs, builds and maintains ... places."  Brett's immediate challenge is to establish and maintain a corporate office in China.  He left yesterday to spend three weeks visiting several Chinese cities, searching for the best to satisfy corporate and client needs.  Once that is accomplished, he will find a nearby apartment in which to live for the next two years.  Michelle hopes that she will find employment there, too, perhaps as an English teacher.

Thanksgiving Day was perfect weather for Matt's grilling of the turkey outdoors.  This year Sophia and Brandon helped with meal preparation, too.  Sophia mixed the green bean casserole and Brandon prepared the whipped sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows. Finally they're both old enough to sit through a meal without fidgeting or fussing.  It was a very relaxing time!

In August 18-year-old cat Kitty died.  With her absent, I was able to stay in bed past 7:00 AM (when she made sleep impossible as she demanded breakfast) and demanded to be lifted to the bathroom counter where I had to turn on the water so she could drink.  ("Dogs have masters, cats have staff.")  But I came to miss having activity here, and just before Thanksgiving adopted littermates Simon and Lilli from the Humane Society.  They have been a joy.  They eat the food left out for them and drink from the water dish that sits beside it.  And they entertain me as well as each other.

And I Thought I'd be Bored

Back in September Brandon was about a month into his first season playing tackle football. His team, the Panthers, won their first game, and I missed it because I was working. I understand that the youngsters showed up that Saturday morning with their heads screwed on straight. They performed in inspired style.

Two weeks later eleven Panthers were on the field, and it seemed as though each had his own agenda. The result was that they did the equivalent of putting a red ribbon around the game they handed to their opponent.

Apparently the coach got their attention during the practices that followed. Being a nice guy hadn't worked, so he and the assistant coaches got tough. I wasn't there, but I understand the boys learned through the experience of several scrimmages what is required to play and win.

It was late September and a perfect day for football -- sunny with the temperature in the mid 60's. I got to the field early and watched the Panthers practice. Paired up, two boys laid on their backs, helmet to helmet, one holding the football. The coach stood over them, and when he yelled "Go!", they jumped up, turned around to face each other, and the ball carrier tried to evade the other fellow whose assignment was to tackle him. Pads were popping. No one was holding back. 

Their opponent on this Saturday had won their three previous games and had not been scored against. The Panthers had a big mountain to climb. And climb it they did. The Panthers recovered a fumble and in the next few plays, made a touchdown, the first scored against their opponent! The boys played so much better than earlier in the season and their practices paid off. They didn't win the game, but they didn't embarrass themselves. I am so proud of their effort and I hope they are proud of the way they played.  I am looking forward to next fall's football games.

A Challenge, But FUN!!

Matt was awarded a trip to Cancun by his employer for meeting his sales goal in the past year.  He and Dawn spent three days in Cancun, plus two days traveling there and back.  And I watched Brandon and Sophia while they were gone.  I'll admit it:  I was unsure of my ability to oversee them for five days.  If they listened, if they obeyed, it would be no problem for me.  If our views of how things should be done conflicted, the days would seem to be unending. 

Matt had given each of the kids a gift card and their choice of activity Sunday was to go shopping!  They wanted to end up at the mall, but had stops to be made on the way.  We alternated:  a stop here for Brandon, the next stop for Sophia.  They were good shoppers.  If they couldn't find what they wanted, we moved on.  Eventually both were satisfied.  Sophia found nail polish, fake nails and bear-faced cushy slippers.   Brandon added to his football card collection.  I guess one can never have too many.

Dawn and Matt were hosting a Halloween party when they returned, so I thought I'd help get ready by vacuuming.  However, I couldn't get into Brandon's and Sophia's bedrooms because of all their toys scattered about.  While I helped Sophia move things to their proper places, I asked Brandon to move his to his bed.  I expected an argument but for some reason, both regarded this chore as more of a game.  Once Sophia's floor was clear and she was free to go play, I moved to Brandon's room. 

He was still working diligently.  He'd begun to fill the waste basket beside him with broken crayons, old school papers, and other trash.  Before the session was completed, he'd filled and emptied the container three times.  And he was still on a roll. 

I had dusted the bedside table and chest and said I was too tired to do more but would finish in the morning.  He wanted it done now, and went to find the step stool and then climbed it so he could dust and rearrange the items on his highboy.  Next he moved to the closet where he straightened his shoes and hanging clothes.  Finally the sports card notebooks and boxes containing those that hadn't been assigned a place were neatly stacked in the closet.  He'd worked steadily for over two hours and was pleased by his accomplishment.  I was flabbergasted that he'd stayed with the task and done it right!  He was so proud and said that he intended to keep his room tidy. 

It turned out to be a great week.  They ate what I fixed (and asked for the leftovers the next night!).  We also went out to eat at their favorite restaurant and brought home ice cream to eat while relaxing before bedtime.  And they kept their rooms neat, although Sophia doesn't seem to be bothered by clutter and had to be encouraged to put toys away rather than just toss them into the room!

Happily, I'm looking forward to doing it again.  But there's no need to rush to it.