Memories

My dear friend Rosemarie sent me a new toy...a Garmin GPS system. I love it! In the package she included a picture of my kids taken about 25 years ago.

Double the Pleasure

I flew to Atlanta last weekend to visit my family. My son-in-law Phil picked me up at the train (which I take from the airport) and we went to see my daughter Becca at PF Changs where she is manager. After a delicious dinner and short visit Phil brought me to Alison's house where I would stay the weekend. We ended up staying awake until 2 AM watching DVD's that I had made from old family videos. It was fun to see Alison, Becca and Adam when they were little and see how much Avi looked like Alison when she was little, and how identical Talia is to Becca at 2 months old!
The next morning Avi wanted to see Grandma so Alison brought him and Talia in to wake me. Talia took one look at me and....WAAAHHH! At 5 1/2 months old she definitely has stranger anxiety. I have not been in Atlanta for 2 months so of course she didn't know me. As the weekend went on she became more comfortable with me but still had moments where she looked at me as if to say, "You talkin' to ME?" Avi, on the other hand, couldn't get enough Grandma. We have such fun together and he is one smart little guy. At not quite 3 years old he knows his letter sounds and can tell me the beginning sound of words, recites the alphabet in English and Hebrew, counts to 10 in English and Spanish and can point out the continents on the globe.
On Saturday we took the kids to Lowes where Avi made a firetruck as part of their kids project. On Sunday, we went to the mall and he played in the climbing area. Then we went to PF Changs for lunch. Talia was exhausted, having gotten up at 5:30 AM and not napped...until she got onto Aunt Becca. Then she went right out!
Monday Michael and I took Avi to the park where we had a picnic lunch and lots of fun on the slides and other climbing equipment. The weekend went by so quickly but it was wonderful to be with Alison, Michael, see Bex and Phil and of course, be with my darling grandchildren!

Hostess with the Mostess?

Tonight was the monthly Guest Party at the studio (Fred Astaire of Delray Beach). I was asked to be the Student Hostess for the evening. I was so happy that I also had several guests attending...my cousin and her friend, the office manager where I go for physical therapy (for - literally - the pain in my butt! an inflamed piriformis muscle), and a guy who was standing outside looking in a few days before and I told him to go on in and join the fun...so he did! I had a lesson just before the party, then changed into my dress for hostessing. As people entered I greeted them and gave them champagne. Eric and Nataliya (owners/instructors) then walked around and schmoozed a bit. When the general dancing started I went into the back to put on my costume for a demonstration samba.The bummer was that I missed all the general dancing due to waiting in the "wings." When I finally "went on" it was great...not perfect, but so much fun. Afterward I changed back to my dress and joined the others for Eric's demonstration dance steps lesson. And then...we were done!

Works of Art

Last night after dinner at my favorite Mexican restaurant, Casa Maya, my friend Eva and I went to an art gallery in Fort Lauderdale to view a showing called "Portraits in Blue." A friend of Eva's, Robin White, was exhibiting some of her art. It was very nice - there were many people but not overly crowded. We met Robin and saw her painting, which, she said, was of her mother as a young woman. There were all genres of art. We met and spoke to an artist named Lena Luckey (Luckey is her married name but very appropriate, I think). She is from Czechoslovakia, as is Eva. Lena's art is beautiful, very serene, calm - you can feel inner peace in each one. A bit later we met two of Eva's cronies from dancing and spent a few minutes talking to them. It was a really nice evening. Here are some other works that were at the exhibit, though I apologize for not knowing the artists:

The Loves of my Life

I have not seen Avi or Talia in person since mid-July and I am looking forward to going to Atlanta in two weeks, for the weekend. Thank goodness for webcams, where I have seen them once or twice, but it doesn't compare to in person. Here are a few pix of my sweethearts:

Back to Work

School started three weeks ago and so far I have a delightful kindergarten class. With the exception of one child who can be, at times, oppositional, the students are cute, well behaved (well, for 5 and 6 year olds that is) and fairly bright. I always have several students who have that 'huh?' look when you are speaking, but not this year (so far). Unfortunately, the 4th kindergarten is about to be closed! Our numbers are down this year and with 14, 15, 10, 9 in our classes there are not enough students to sustain a fourth class. What a shame, since the 'new' teacher spend HOURS setting up her classroom, learning the ropes, bonding with her students, only to be told that she 1. move to third grade (which would bump out a teacher there) or volunteer to apply for a surplus transfer (which she chose to do simply because she lives quite far from our school). Ms. R. came to us this year to take the place of a teacher who was forced into retirement by cutbacks in the county. Ms. R. was an out of classroom teacher whose position was cut, putting her into the surplus area, which landed her at our school (an inner city school). I am so glad that I am not in her position. I have enough years with the school board to be considered safe from being surplussed, and I just look forward to 4 years from now when I can kiss it all goodbye and not have to wake up at 5:30 AM, do lesson plans, and deal with all the non-teaching BS that goes on daily.

Fixed but Still Frustrated

The AT&T technician arrived tonight. He looked at all the connections and announced that the original installer must have been in a rush for he left several unresolved issues. The original installer had been here for SIX HOURS - definitely not a rush job but I guess he didn't know what he was doing when he set up my system. Anyway, the TVs all work but I still called Directv and set up a date to switch to their service. Now I want to 'bundle' my internet and phone with Directv's TV package. When I called to do so I found out that they only use one provided in my area for these services...yup...AT&T! "Hmmm," I thought..."I had no issue with the internet or phone, ok, I can do this!" WRONG! According to Directv, in order to be on THEIR bundles program I would have to cancel the AT&T service I have now BEFORE ordering through them, which would leave me w/o service for a week or so. So then I called AT&T...and was told that if I use Directv's internet service (through AT&T) 1. I would STILL have to order it directly through AT&T 2. the internet would drop from 18 megabytes (speed-wise) to 6 megabytes (Directv told me that through them it would be only 3 megabytes). Being so connected to my computer as I am I want the 18 megabytes that I have now, which I can only get through being part of Uverse, which I have now. So, bottom line...I can just drop the TV part of my Uverse plan, keep the phone and internet, and pay more than I would if I went through Directv but had a much slower internet speed! Then Mom suggested that I cancel my home phone line and just stick with my cell phone since I rarely use my home phone and even transfer it to my cell when I am at work or away. I can't explain why, but this is hard for me. This has been Gerry's home phone number since the late 90's and I almost feel guilty giving it up...stupid, huh? It truly makes sense to cancel it, giving me a $45 plus tax/fees savings each month. Of course, it would mean not having my fax line either but really...I only use it MAYBE once a month, for which I can go to Kinkos to fax or learn how to fax using the scanner and computer. Have you figured out that I am a pain in the butt when it comes to certain decisions? It took me almost a year to decide to cut my hair back in 1998, driving my then spouse nuts till he said, "Cut it or shut up about it!"...so, I cut it (cut him out too, but not because of that incident for he was right). So, on Sept. 19 I will be switched to Directv and by then I should have decided to cut the home phone and fax out, too!

Can We Say...I've HAD IT?

I know that I need to update this blog since I have not written since Aug...and I will...soon. But I really, really need to VENT so I apologize for doing it here, but here goes:I had issues with AT&T 10 years ago and SWORE I would never use them for anything again. Their UVerse package sounded good so...I took it in late June. I have had nothing but problems. I am not a big live TV watcher but it seems that ...most times when I have an hour or two b/t coming and going - I have a TV issue. Tonight, having 2 hours at home b/t work and dance, I spent 1 1/2 hours on the phone trying to get my TV's to show ANYTHING!!! The technician finally did something "temporary" and my big TV is on (although the picture keeps breaking up). So...I am leaving the TV on (which is upping my elec. bill) so it will work when I come home later, repairman coming tomorrow night (so I have to be here) and I will DEFINITELY call Direct TV and beg them to take me back! Do I sound PO'd?? Oh you have NO idea. Thanks for listening!

We Are Family!

Busy but fun weekend....my sister Etienne and my niece Ashley (17) flew in to spend the weekend with me. They have never been to my home in FL and I have not seen Ashley since she was 9 years old. I did get to see Etie when she flew from her home in San Diego this past July to OKC (for just 24 hours) to see me while I was visiting our dad. We did not grow up together - we have different mothers, but we have tried to maintain a relationship since she was 16. We are so alike in many ways, but mostly in our desire to be close to one another. What a great time we had! I picked they up at the airport after work on Thursday and we went to dinner on Atlantic Ave in Delray Beach, at Cabana. We walked in and out of the shops and I got a bargain...I bought a pair or designer jeans (I never buy designer anything) for a FRACTION of the original cost. Friday they took the Tri-rail train to Miami, took a sightseeing boat to view the homes of the rich and famous, then spent a few hours in Bayside (shopping area). That night we did more browsing of the shops and I bought a beautiful dress, this one cost 83% BELOW the original tag - LOVE IT! and then went to my favorite restaurant on Atlantic Ave - Sazio, and had a nice Italian meal (well, I only had mahi-mahi on salad but it was still delicious). Afterward we went to the dance studio for the weekly dance party. There were more women than men there - I guess men don't brave the rain like we women do, and it was so much fun. Eric, my partner/instructor was so gracious, dancing with both Etie and Ashley several times. On Saturday I took them to Sawgrass Mills, a HUGE shopping mall (mostly outlet stores) - I mean, where else would you take a teenage? They loved it and had a ball shopping there (me? I just kept them company, having done my thing the past two nights). For dinner we went to the Banana Boat in Boynton Beach, on the intracoastal waterway and serving yummy seafood. On Sunday we were on our way to the airport when I told Etie to call and check the flight. She was told that there was no such flight, that it had been cancelled in JUNE. Her travel agent had gotten the info but did not communicate with Etie...had not even done a seat assignment. We had to go back to my house and wait another few hours till their flight. At least we got to eat some of our restaurant leftovers, and they took the rest with them.
Later that afternoon my friend Laura came up to Delray. We had dinner on the Ave and went to a singles "thing" at the Blue Fish (restaurant) on the Ave. I am NOT into singles things but she met a guy there who she had met a few nights before at another place. He hung with us all night (or were we hanging with him?) and he was a lot of fun. Then Laura spent the night at my house and in the morning, after the rain, we went to the beach, meeting her friend JoAnn and my friend Eva and had a really nice, relaxing time!