New Page---- New Day

I think that there is a direct correlation between being a parent and a hearing loss. It took me 59 years to figure this out and I only did because we had house guests. The couple visiting us have no children. They talked so softly, that I kept saying "what". Then I remebered that one of my daughters and her husband also talk so softly, that I have to ask them to repeat. They have no children. That is what got me thinking that there must be a direct link between having kids and not being able to hear. Did I lose my hearing over the years by having to hear the chatter of the four kids, the dog, the Beattles. I must have because this past week I said over and over "what" , to a couple who had no children .

I can hear my friends who have children and grandchildren, they talk loud enough for me to hear them. That's proof enough for me that my hypothesis of hearing loss being directly related to having kids is correct. It's never too late to turn the TV up a little louder or keep saying,"what did they just say".

It was a surprise, and I handled it well. I went to start the car, and it didn't. But I knew what to do. Call AAA. They are now my new best friend. They came when they said they would, they replaced the battery , and they called me the next day to see that everything was OK. My doctor doesn't even do that.

It was a perfect time for the battery to be replaced. We had company and they had a car if we needed to be any where, and we had no place that we really had to be. A perfect situation.

I don't like to have things that don't work. Especially electronic things, because I can't always fix them myself. A flat tire I can fix (really I can change a tire, even when it is snowing). I even callibrated my oven after I went on line to see how to do it. I also fixed the DVD player by going on line to read how to do that. Thank you, Mr. Google. You are my friend, too.

I can use my computer to learn some skills , but I have to call for help when the computer tries to get even with me and it does strange things, like not letting me turn it off. That's when I call for my computer guru. When the car doesn't work, I call for a car expert.

It's never too late to know when you have to call the big guns in.

I decided that I was reading too many cookbooks and not enough fiction, so I read a book a day for the last two days. I like it. Neither will probably become a classic, but I especially. couldn't put one down. It related the hardship of a young, educated woman under a Taliban regime, her family honor and a love story with a twist. It makes me want to read some more. I got so involved in the story, that I actually felt physically sick at one point. Maybe more books can do that for me, if I stop reading cookbooks.

We have a wonderful library system here. I like to go mid day because the best books are on the display table. If you wait until late afternoon,the best books have been borrowed already. I also choose my husbands books. He doesn't read fiction. He is the intellectual in the family !

Actually, I think that I am the only one of the 6 of us who reads fiction. Should I remind everyone that my Mother read comic books to learn English. Nothing wrong with that. She read "Gone With the Wind" in a few days. For some reason, I remember that about her. Bob's Dad read aloud to his Mother every night. I think the last book they read together was a Jane Austin novel.

It's never too late to pick up a good book, take a seat and spend the day (and evening) reading.

We literally ran into a rain storm this afternoon. One minute we were driving in a dry environment , and in a blink, I couldn't make the windshield wipers go fast enough to clear the rain from the windshield. In another second, we came out into dry road. This is not uncommon in Florida. I was happy that everyone slowed down and that there were no one driving near us that had a death wish.

We had gone to a wine store that sells individual bottles of beer. I wanted to get some beer that had the taste of coffee. I had some when I was in N.Y. last week and I wanted to find some here. We came home with 2 different brands of coffee flavored beer. They were terrible. It was like drinking carbonated coffee. So much for that thought. I'll take my coffee straight and my beer unflavored. Why did that beer taste so good in N.Y. Was it because I was with my kids and Grandchildren. What else could it have been?

There was a plus side to the heavy outburst of rain, the wine store was almost empty and we got wonderful attention and plus our car got really clean.

It's never too late to appreciate a good rain and remember that it helps keep down the fire threat.

I didn't take the car out of the car port today. Except for my trying to observe the Shabbat , I hardly ever don't take the car someplace every day. I didn't even realize this until I was reviewing my day, in my head. I didn't miss not using the car. What I did was make yeast rolls, then I made raisin bread, potato salad, celery salad and later in the day, oven fried chicken. What a yummy day. I don't know why I was so domestic, but it felt good. I also have house guest and it's fun to show off a little. It's also fun to have extra people around the table. I never did learn to cook for two.

I never thought having four kids was unusual, but I guess now, you could consider us a large family. I used to use 2 shopping carts at the grocery store and then have the groceries delivered, so I wouldn't have to carry them into the house. I also belonged to a food co-op where I could buy a 5 lb. loaf of cheese and food in bulk. We drank 5 gallons of milk a week and had our milk delivered. Does anyone do that any more?

I had a good time today, cooking and I didn't miss not going anywhere. It's never too late to have a good eating day and a non driving day.

I invited a friend for dinner tonight. She is a lovely person, but not a pet lover. Especially a pet that wants to sit in your lap and lick any of your body parts that she can reach.

I haven't figured it out yet, but how does a dog know the one person in the room who doesn't want to have you in their face. The dog does know. Is it a scent that you give off? Cricket loves anything on two legs. And expects that person to love her in return. When it doesn't work like that, she is confused. I try to help her, by letting her sit in my lap, but she looks at the person who rejects her and is bewildered. So she tries again. It is amusing to see her try so hard. After awhile, even the unpet lover, has to make concessions and at least say, "nice doggy" to her. Cricket can relax after that and lie on the floor, where a dog belongs.

Little dogs can get away with this lap sitting and licking .They know that they are cute.

We would never let our kids get away with the things this little dog gets away with. At meal time, the kids ate what was prepared. Period. I have been known to fix special food for Cricket if she didn't eat her dog food. Our kids had pretty good manners. If they were in "Dad's" chair and Dad came into the room, they moved. We have been known to not turn over in bed, because Cricket was sleeping in that spot. I cut our kids hair until they made Bat and Bar Mitzvah's. That was the house rule. We pay big bucks to have Cricket groomed.

It's never too late to keep telling everyone that I'm coming back as a pampered pet.

I just watched Nic Wallenda walk across the Grand Canyon. I actually couldn't watch, I listened to what he was doing. Looking at the canyon, even on TV, made me dizzy.

There was a lot to learn by watching him. He had a dream, he focused on his dream, he declared his faith in God and used that faith to calm himself. He is an athelete, who trained for success.This is his business, he has a pay roll to meet and he approached it in a professional manner. I thought he was humble, I think that he is a little crazy, but I admire that he did what he said he wanted to do.

Sitting in my house and watching on TV, I was afraid for him. I wondered if people watched because they secretly hoped that he would fall to his death. Sorry, but I did have that thought.

I couldn't be married to a man who put his life in jeopardy like that. I also wouldn't want to be married to a politician or a Rabbi. All of these profession are in the public domain and I want to be more private.

I'll take the lesson that I learned from his wanting to live his dream and just say that it is never too late to make that dream become a done deal, but I'm keeping my feet glued to the ground.

I've had dogs who have had interesting palates.There was the late, great, Wally, who ate everything. I've mentioned before ,how if we wanted him, we would just run the electric can opener, and how he once caught his Collie, German Shepard, Chow mix head in a box of dog biscuits. Since he was shaped like a bowling pin, it was pretty funny.

Then we had the dogs who loved raw baby carrots and cooked a la dente green beans. They had obvious weight problems, so that is why we even introduced them to veggies. Our dogs always had ice cream on their birthdays. Some of our pets had more than one birthday a year.

 We had Charlie, our problem dog who liked Mc Donald's pancakes for breakfast when we were on our annual August road trips to Colorado. It was his breakfast of choice , he liked the imitation maple syrup the best.

Poor Jake , had a sweet tooth, too. That's how he managed to get into my purse and eat a piece of chocolate candy and suffered a stroke as a result. Until then , we had always given our pets a tiny piece of chocolate when we had some .

Now we are up to Cricket. Her sweet tooth is very developed. She won't eat carrots unless cooked and sweetened. But for some reason, she really likes brocolli. Go figure. It's never too late to share my sweets with my pet, only the chocolate is all mine.

I have decided that I am addicted to my iPad. Last night , I made a declaration to myself, that I would only go on it twice a day. I will answer my emails in the morning and then get off of it. No more solitaire,no more doing a puzzle, no more "You Tube" videos, no more Googleing for pleasure. I will check my emails again in the evening. That's it. I was spending too much time playing on my iPad. I will only use it for a learning experience. I don't know how long I can keep this up, but it will be a test of my will. I love my iPad. I use it for looking up everything that I need to know. It has replaced the Yellow Pages, many of my cookbooks, maps, hard cover books , my camera and my desk computer. When I got this iPad, I just wanted to be current, to be "in the know", to be like my friends. Little did I know that I would become addicted to this little mini iPad. On second thought, what's so bad about my addiction . How about if I only play Solitaire after I practice my violin, and only go on "You Tube" when I need to learn something, like how to brew beer. It's never too late to make concessions and keep my iPad charged.

Living in Paradise offers a little of everything. This morning,when it was sunny and cloudless, I saw a bunny, a red headed woodpecker, a brilliant male cardinal and a tree that was growing papayas (I think). This early evening, we had a fast and furious rain storm that kept us from taking Cricket for her evening walk. Now it is clearing and the sky is magnificent. Nothing about our weather is ordinary.

I am going to prepare for hurricanes this season. In the past, I have been lackadisical about preparations. The weather patterns are now so bizarre, that I am going to be more vigilant this hurricane season.

I have a great little cookbook, called "The Storm Gourmet" about how to "cook" while you are without power. I have been wanting to try the recipes. I should try some of them now and get some of the ingredients in the house. I need to get some canned chicken,canned veggies,canned fruit,instant pasta. I didn't know that there was instant pasta. I will walk the aisles of the super market more carefully next time I go and see what is out there. I'm excited to be getting prepared. I hope that I don't need to use my cookbook, but it is never too late, or to early, to be a good scout and get prepared.

Do you ever wonder about shoes that you some times see on the street or roadway? I see a lone ladies pump or a work boot just laying in the street. Occassionally, I will see a pair of shoes, tied with their shoe laces, thrown over a telephone wire. Does a person get angry at their shoes and throw them out of the car window One only.Do people just get mad at their left shoe, or the right one, and throw it out of the window..Does a parent say  to a misbehaving child,"if you don't stop that right now, I am going to throw your shoe out of the window". We lost a baby shoe on a Chicago el train once. Our daughter just kicked it off and we didn't notice.But that was before she was walking and she really didn't need shoes, yet..

I really notice shoes. my father was in the shoe business .I even worked for him one summer. Italians have the best shoes. I used to be able to identify Europeans by their shoes.

My sister had such a narrow foot, 6AAAA ,that twice a year, some shoe manufacturer would custom make her a pair of shoes.That stopped when she got married. Too expensive.

Our kids marked the seasons by the shoes we bought them. The day before school would start, they each got a pair of Keds, a pair of slippers, a pair of Sunday school and a pair of school shoes. We did some of this again at winter break, depending on growth spirts. A few of our kids even believed that the Keds would make them jump higher and run faster. They would stand on a kitchen chair and leap.

It's never too late to remember shoes and remember how much fun we had with the kids, when they were true believers

Several of my male friends make artisan bread.I have made bread,using both the old fashion way of kneading, rising, baking and I have used a bread machine. Both work for different reasons.

We like a certain olive bread that we used to buy at a local grocery store. Recently, they stopped selling this bread. We tried another stores olive bread, but we didn't like it. At $4 a loaf, we had to like it a lot. So we decided to go back to a bread machine and make our own bread.I could do it the old fashion way, but I like toys.

The bread machines is different from the first one I had. This new one makes jam ! Yes jam.  I guess if you make bread, jam just goes with it.

I made my first loaf today and, now, I am thinking that maybe getting a machine was a mistake. We keep going to the fresh loaf and cutting one more slice. After the novelty wears off, maybe we will stop this.

It's never too late to look for excuses to get another appliance and enjoy the results, but we should put the scale away.

As soon as I got off the plane in New York, I knew I would be overstimulated. I was. I loved it. Horns, kids, sirens. All sounds that I could live with. Then we went to New Paltz, which is 90 minutes from New York City. And which to me,was country.

It was so noisy that my tinnitis went into over drive. Cicadas were every where. According to NPR. , they go underground for 17 years, then up they come. I think there is a cycle , so not all of them hit the world at the same time. The first million must have hatched this week end. Their sound was deafening. I was told that the noise was at 90 decibles and deafness can occur at 95. Thank heavens they stop for the night. You could see them bouncing all around the grass and small bushes. The noise that I hear in my ears  with my tinnitis is the same as the noise that the insects were producing. No wonder I felt so drained when I got back to the quiet of New York.

Now that I am back in Paradise,I'm glad that I had this adrenalin rush of noise and people. It's never too late to appreciate a small dose of it, but come back to what is so much easier for my tinnitis.

While I was waiting for my plane at the Tampa Airport, I was playing fashion police. People were not dressed up to code. Comfortable, but not dressed well. Girls in short shorts, torn jeans, dresses too short, high,high heels, or flip flops. The guys did look better.

Today in the Wall Street Journal,there was an article about dressing for travel.The author was lamenting on what most of us wear when traveling. She spoke to my heart, just not to my pocket book. The author had the right idea. Travel with style. Dress for travel. Wear those Max Mara cashmere pants and the $300.00 pair of 2 inch heels. I approve. Unfortunately, I travel couch, wear mostly recycled clothes and I shelp my own carry on. I don't think that she and I are on the same plane in life, or when we travel.

It's never too late to walk proudly to my seat in the back of the plane because I know that we will both get to our destination at the same time,and I will be really comfortable in my Granny Jeans and sneakers.

My children say that I just went to heaven, and for a few hours, I felt as if I did. I spent the best week end ,ever, with my 5 Grandsons. This is a Grandma's dream.Our Grandson got married and for the first time since the last Bar Mitzvah, each of the 5 was in the same time zone, on the same  continent , even , and they were all here to celebrate the wedding.I have pictures to prove it.

I spent our time together,talking, watching them interact,listening mostly and kvelling .How did our kids produce such smart,good looking,ethical,hard working guys . I shouldn't be so surprised.I feel the same way about our 4 kids.

oh we'll,  it's never too late to put this happy moment in my memory bank, because I don't know when it will happen again, and I have pictures.