Knocked Me Out!

Whatever this virus is that I had really knocked the wind out of my sail! I feel old and tired.
I have spent so much of my time sleeping these past few weeks. I'm taken aback by my weakness and really bewildered by it all.
It seems not that long ago I was spending my mornings walking and bike riding with my sister Diane (I'll post about that another time), and I knew all of that was going to have to change with Jayden home from school now in the mornings, but I didn't think my mornings would take on this much of a change! Jayden and I sleep in late, and then we have a leisurely breakfast of rice and toast. Well, Jayden has the rice, a great big bowl of rice each morning (and then a bowl of chicken and rice for lunch):




My breakfast is whole grain toast with honey and cinnamon:





If the weather is not too hot and humid we eat breakfast outside:


And then Jayden spends a lot of his mornings drawing and coloring and I spend my time here at the dining table working on jigsaw puzzles:

(My daughter Ellie bought these Thomas Kinkade puzzles and they are very hard to do, I was yelling at her because they take up half the dining table, and they take so long to do. But after I got sick I was happy to have them to work on!)



(And the second one went together much quicker than the first one!)


And then it's usually nap time for us!

Listen to this bit of weirdness that happened to me while napping one day. It was the day of Jayden's graduation from Pre-K, and Ray had taken the day off, that afternoon I went out back by the pool with a pillow and laid on one of the lounge chairs to nap in the sun (it was one of my days when I could not get rid of a chill inside me). Anyway, I think that I have sleep apnea because I will wake up many nights (a few times a night) gasping for air, if you've had that happen to you, well, you know it's not a nice feeling at all!
While napping out back I dreamed that I was visiting my Mom when she was in the nursing home, and all of a sudden she said to me, "You better go", and with that, I was on my front porch and my best friend Barbara pulled up in her car, she leaned over to the passenger window and called out to me, "Eileen, breathe! Eileen, wake up, it's happening again!"
And I did wake up gasping for air.
I settled down, fell asleep, and this time dreamed I was visiting my Dad on hospice care, and he said to me, "It's time to go now", again, I was on my front porch, Barbara pulled up in her car and said, "Eileen, wake up, it's happening again."
And again, I woke up gasping for air.

And later that day while sleeping I dreamed that Raymond told me to wake up because it was going to happen again, and it did!
So I wonder is my brain triggering these episodes? Am I so fearful of it happening that I make it happen? Or is my brain trying to protect me?
Either way, very weird, right?

This sleep apnea thing (or whatever it is) isn't something new, it's been happening on and off for a few years, it just seems to have gotten worse lately.
But definitely this sleeping all the time is new! Yesterday we were at my sister-in-law Susie's house, she invited us over so we could visit with my mother-in-law Helena. Sue and Doug picked her up from Jersey on Saturday and she'll be staying with them for a few weeks (I warned Susie we might be bringing a virus into her house, she said she didn't care). It was a nice, relaxing day, just us and Jayden. Susie has a beautiful park-like yard, very big, and they have a pond, and her husband Doug had Jayden feed the turtles that were in it, and Jayden also had lots of fun swimming in their big pool.
I'm still not feeling great, and after eating my stomach was bothering me (that's what happens now, I have a stomach ache for a few hours after eating all the time now), and I laid down on their couch and proceeded to fall asleep for a few hours (if I didn't know better I would think I was bitten by a tse-tse fly)! How rude, right?! Thank goodness it wasn't the usual big crowd, so I didn't have to be too embarrassed.

I don't know what this is that I have, but I'm going to wish it 'good riddance'!
My sister Diane thought it was food poisoning, but my oldest son came down with it last week too (he missed two days of work and he had fever and many of the same symptoms Jayden and I had), and my youngest daughter too is not feeling well now, and Ray said he feels like he's coming down with something. Whatever this crazy virus is, I wish my household (and my body) would be rid of it once and for all!

Okay, so there you have my past few weeks, not very exciting.
And now I'm off to visit with you before nap time!

Not Feeling Very Well...

This past week both Jayden and I have been running fevers on and off...
...running to the bathroom on and off all week too...
...and fighting bouts of nausea on and off all week...
...and I think we have sleeping sickness too because we've been sleeping, sleeping, sleeping.
I don't know what this crazy 'bug' is that we have but I wish it would go away.

I think the worst of it is over for Jayden (fingers crossed), but I'm not feeling well at all.
Plus I have no stamina when I am awake. I do one little thing and then feel like I have to sit and rest awhile.

Jayden graduated Pre-K today (I'll post about it when I'm feeling better), not a great way to start Summer but at least I won't have to be running back and forth to school.

I have lots of things I want to post about (in addition to Jayden's 'graduation', I want to post about a sweet Father's Day gift from Heaven, wonderful mornings spent with my sister Diane, family fun, friends, my neighborhood, and more).
I'll visit everyone and catch up with you all when I'm feeling better too.

Mia Knows Her Other Grandpa

I love this story and I thought I'd share it for Father's Day weekend.


One day our granddaughter Mia (she was two at the time) asked our daughter-in-law, "Mommy, do you have a Daddy?"

(Lori's Dad passed away when Lori was just seventeen. She and our son Erik met on the first Anniversary of his death.)
So Lori told Mia that yes, she had a Daddy, and she reminded Mia that they had talked about him and that he was in Heaven.

Later that evening while Mia was brushing her teeth and getting ready for bed Lori asked Mia, "Why did you ask me about my Daddy?" And Mia said, "Because I know him."

Lori: "You know him?"
Mia: "Yes, I know him."
Lori: "How do you know him?"
Mia: "I know him very, very, very well."
Lori: "When did you see him?"
Mia: "It was a long, long, long time ago."
Lori: "Did he say anything to you?"
Mia: "Yes, he said to say 'Thank you'."

I love it!

Blessed Father's Day
to Fathers here on Earth
and to Fathers watching over us from above in Heaven

B'Gosh And B'Gorrah! The Pixie's Turned Sixty!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARYBETH!


I was trying to think of words that rhyme with 'sixty' so I could do a little poem for you, but other than what I already wrote on your cake ('nifty at sixty', which by the way, my girls did not like, they said 'nifty' was for 'fifty'), anyway, I drew a complete blank except for 'pixie' and I thought, well, she's Irish.

Then Katie came up with something for me to write (sorry but I have now forgotten exactly what she said), but it went something like this:

Marybeth, today you have turned sixty
I am Alice and you are Trixie
I don't want to leave Diane distraught-en
So she will have to be Ed Norton!

Marybeth, I wish you were here when Katie was trying to think of words that rhyme with sixty because you would have been rolling on the floor laughing right along with me!

My poem actually would have gone more along the lines of:

If you girls will not get the sister tattoo
I guess I'll have to cry ~ 'boo-hoo'!
And if you feel you need more time to think
Maybe instead we could use henna ink!


Or maybe I would have stolen an idea from Diane:

"And the cheese stands alone..."

Don't think because you've turned sixty that you are an old Crone
Even though your bones ache, and you sigh, and you moan, and you groan
It's actually kind of nice to reach this age of our 'Twilight' zone
As long as you are not the cheese that stands alone

(I seriously think I am Dr. Seuss!)

You know that you will never be alone
Never be left to roam this world on your own
For in your heart you'll see what you have always known
Diane and Eileen will guide your way home



Well, I guess all the poems are pretty lame, but in my defense I'm not feeling very well today. So forgive me, and just know how much I love you, and that I treasure both you and Diane. You are both woven into the fabric of my life, for sure!
And let's not wait a whole year for another family picnic!

Enjoy your special day!
I love you!

Butterflies Are Free

So sorry I've been away from blogging and visiting for awhile. We've been busy with fun and with some not-so-much-fun things lately.

In this post you'll see one of the fun things and one of the not-so-fun:
Last year our grandson Jayden saw a commercial about raising butterflies and he wanted to do it, so my husband sent away for the kit, Jayden was fascinated with the whole process, and he was excited when it was time to set the butterflies free.

This year in school his class was doing the same thing, and when he saw the commercial on TV again it reminded him about it and he told us how the class was raising butterflies and he wanted to do it again at home too.
So Ray sent away for another kit, and each day Jayden would check to see the progress of his butterflies and to feed them.


And after he was satisfied that they had enough to eat, he would leave his finger inside the butterfly house and wait. And sure enough, one of the butterflies would come and land on it...



...and make it's way up along Jayden's finger.



I thought Jayden would become too attached to the butterflies to want to set them free. But when it came time, he was happy and excited to do just that!


When the butterfly door was unzipped I thought the butterflies would be happy to fly right out to freedom, but they needed a little coaxing.






Eventually they all flew off, and Mia & Jayden were all smiles...



...that is until it was time for Mia to leave and go home!





A few days later Jayden spotted this beautiful butterfly in our neighbor's yard:





Jayden also planted some tomato seeds in a little paper cup in school, we put them on the window sill in the kitchen for a few days, and then Ray and Jayden transplanted them into a pot out on the back deck. His teacher told me they are cherry tomatoes, so I am looking forward to using them in salads this Summer!




Okay, now for one of the not-so-fun things ~
We were supposed to go to our niece's graduation party in New Jersey today but Ray fell while bike riding!

He was moving out of the way of on-coming traffic on a very busy road, and he turned into a construction site, drove over a wooden board, and next thing he knew he was airborne! He made a hard landing and is scraped and bruised, and thank goodness he had his helmet on because it is scraped and bruised too. In spite of the helmet he still got a knock on the head.




This is the side of the helmet as it is supposed to look, all nice and smooth, and shiny:



And this is the side of the helmet that made contact with the ground, all scratched and battered now:




He's really feeling sore so I said a two hour drive is not something he should be doing today.
He wouldn't listen to me about going to First Med and getting checked out, but he is willing to stay put so I know he's not feeling well.



Okay, I'll try to be more faithful about posting in the future!
'Hope you are all enjoying a great weekend!

(Also, as you can see, I'm having Blogger issues again! My font size keeps changing, my pictures keep disappearing, and it has taken me over two hours to get this post ready! Grrrrr!)

'Said Good-bye To May...

...and I'm always kind of sad to see it go. I love the month of May, I've loved it ever since I was a little girl and my Mom told me that May was the month of Mary. We have lots to celebrate in May with birthdays and Mother's Day, and Ray & I were married in May, and our son Erik & daughter-in-law Lori share the same Anniversary! It's also usually a very pretty month here where we live too, flowers and trees blooming, sunny days, blue skies, and lots of opportunities to enjoy the outdoors before the heat and humidity of Summer sets in.
Although there is always a sadness too at the end of May with Memorial Day, I really do have mixed emotions, it's usually a nice time where we get together with friends and family, someone always has a barbecue and/or a pool party, and there are parades, and we're usually celebrating a birthday or two that weekend. But it's sad when you think of fallen heroes. So there is lots of joy tinged with sadness. But I guess that's life in general.

Here's how we ended the month:

Ray finished my shelves in the back room. I'm very happy!


And he opened the pool...


...and of course Jayden was the first (and only) one in the pool despite the cold water temperature!



After a week the water warmed up a little and a few more brave souls took the plunge!



Jayden is getting braver and taking his life jacket off more often now.


And we had a barbecue over Memorial weekend...

Our niece Erin and her boyfriend George...


...and the delicious cupcakes she made!



Our nephew Mikael relaxing on the floor...


...and one of his many tattoos (ouch!), this is one of his more colorful ones!



Ray's brother Donald and his sister Susie...



...and we also sang 'Happy Birthday' to Donald!

Make a wish...





...now smear your name for luck!




And the next day we attended the parade in our town, it was just a few blocks from our home and the weather was beautiful so we all walked there.



Jayden and Mia waited patiently for the parade to pass by (it was late getting started).




Mayor Bloomberg (in the pink shirt) took the lead (I have a feeling he was the reason for the late start).




Jayden and Mia loved the balloons, and they also loved that the company that supplied the balloons threw little beach balls to all the children along the parade route!
(I can't believe they allowed cars to park on the parade route this year!)




My brother John is a veteran of the Viet Nam war, he marches each year and he always carries the POW/MIA flag.


There were drummers and marching bands, but my favorite is the bagpipers.




The parade always ends with antique cars, and this year these tiny foreign cars joined the parade. I see them all over now, I guess they are easy on the wallet, but I think they are so comical looking.


May was a busy month, it was a beautiful month, and I was sad to see it end.

But June has lots of good things in store!
Best of all we'll be having a Family Picnic/Reunion on Saturday and family & friends near and far will be coming!
My youngest brother Joey, his wife Judy, and their youngest son Jake are flying here from Florida for the weekend. My nephew Thomas and his two sons Tommy and Eamon will be driving up from South Carolina. My oldest brother Tom will be driving up from Maryland, and my sister Marybeth will make the trip from Pennsylvania. I'm really looking forward to it!

There will be Birthdays to celebrate, and there is Father's Day, and Jayden 'graduates' from Pre-K this month, and Ray's office is having a race to benefit the Central Park Conservation and Jayden & I will join him in Central Park afterwards for a picnic, and there will be pool parties and barbecues on the weekends, so there are many good things to look forward to!

'Hope you all enjoy a wonderful June too!