Valentine Treats

What fun I had with Ben today. When I pick him up from school, I stand in the vestibule outside of locked doors. I can hear the kids getting their coats on and getting ready to go home before I can see them. The procession usually starts with one of the teachers leading the children one by one in a line to the vestibule. From there, they sort out who's mom is there and walk the children out to the car. Since I walk Ben home, I'm always the first "pick up" person they see and they usually take a minute to tell me what the activity of the day was.

Today was not only Valentine's Day, but Christina's (a Ben classmate) birthday. Her mom brought in heart shaped donuts. The teacher told me, "look for Ben to be on a sugar high, the kids had Valentine's treats and birthday donuts today."

Usually Ben is at the front of the line to leave, but today he was way in the back. The kids are used to seeing me now, so some of them came up to show me what they made for their moms. To each one I said what a great job they did and how much their moms would love what they did. Suddenly, I was surrounded by the class, each showing me their treasures. The next thing I heard was Ben's voice from the end of the line saying in a very indignant voice, "Mo Mo, I'm over here...." He cut out of line and came running up to me and held up his gift for Jenna...."Mo Mo, look at mine first," he said.

I loved that moment. It reminded me of a time when I went to Jenna and Jon's church and did nursery time with Jenna. I was sitting on the floor near the TV and one of the little kids just came over and plopped down in my lap and started to watch TV. Now the whole time I was in the nursery, Ben was running and playing with the other kids--until he saw this little boy in my lap. From across the room he started to walk toward me, his little arms swinging back and forth as he said, "no---no----no---no." And then proceeded to remove the little boy from my lap and sit down. To be coveted by Ben is always special to me.

I looked down at him and his face was full of chocolate. For a minute I thought he needed a shave!! It got even better when we went home and he tried to get a Mommy to let him eat a treat, "cuz, he didn't eat anything."

Speaking of treat--Ellie was up and wide awake when I came by. She laughed at me and followed my voice and movements and seemed really glad to be up and in the middle of everything. What fun I had....now, if I could only wake up Sammy so I could see him too, life would be good!!!

Friends

I am lucky to have had some really good friends during the course of my life, but three stand out as the best--Nina Hall, Pat Mason and Joyce DePaulo.

Nina and I go way back...back to the AmeriTrust days. We each had little girls that were almost the same age and we were both single. Although we saw each other at work, we didn't really meet until I bumped into her at Halle's during my lunch hour. I was looking at a red scarf and this voice behind me said..."buy it, red is your color." We've been friends ever since. We used to call our little girls, "Ebony and Ivory." Nina's daughter, Ebony was a beautiful chocolate brown color and Jenna was the whitest white Nina had ever seen. Once when Nina was going on an overnight date, I was going to watch Eb for her for the weekend. "Don't touch her hair," Nina said to me...that made me laugh, but there were two other funny things that happened that weekend. When Nina and her date drove up into my driveway to drop off Eb, her date looked at me and then at Nina and said, "you can't leave Ebony here, she's white." But the best part of the visit was when our little Ebony and Ivory's were arguing in the bathroom as I was taking a shower. "What are you girls fighting about," I asked. One of them pulled the shower curtain back suddenly and Jenna said, in a very proud voice, "see, I told you she was white all over." Ebony just stood and stared at me...amazed. Nina moved to Chicago years ago, but if she called today, we would pick up right where we left off.

Pat Mason and I worked at Ohio Savings. I have often told people that when I first saw Pat, I didn't know who she was, but I knew she was somebody. How true those words are. Pat has had a wonderful career and I am lucky enough to work with her now at New York Life. When National City was purchased, Pat was displaced. I got her resume in a heart beat and by the time she was packing her desk at Nat City, she was already a NYL employee. Pat is my mentor and my friend. She prays over me at lunch and laughs when I am wicked. She is a wonderful person and I am lucky to have her in my life.

I had dinner with Joyce this evening. Joyce and I met at a golf course. We were both taking golf lessons and the class was told to pair up for part of the lesson. I remember looking at Joyce and thinking, "she looks like a nice lady," so I went up to her and asked if she wanted to be my partner. We've been friends ever since. I wish we golfed more. When we first started actually playing we went out when it was supposed to rain. Oh it rained alright. We were on the third or fourth hole and it was just pouring. We didn't care. The men ran for the club house so we had the whole course to ourselves. We could do, "do overs" if we had a bad shot and putt on the green ten or twelve times without worrying about the people behind us waiting to play. There was just one little thing we didn't think about....not only was it raining, there was thunder and lightening...and there we were swinging our clubs high above our heads. Pretty soon, we saw a man on a golf cart coming towards us. He told us he was looking for us and we had to go in. It was dangerous being on the course in the rain and lightening. He took us back to the clubhouse and all of those men who ran in when it started to get bad applauded us for being the last ones in. They bought us a beer, and we were never intimidated by them again.

Many people have come and gone through my life. I haven't given most of them up willingly, but yet they are gone. I am a better person for knowing all of them, but I am far, far better for having known my 3 friends.

Just Me

Tony is away at his last conference before retiring. I've written before about how the house makes noise and something always breaks when he is gone--but this time seems different. We woke up to more than 3 inches of snow this morning and I knew I was going to have to shovel this evening or I wouldn't be able to get into the garage. I left early so I would be shoveling in some level of daylight, but I found that the driveway had been shoveled already....hmmm.....I took Tony to the airport at 7:15 a.m., but his flight didn't leave until 10 something....did he come back and use the snow blower?? Did he tell the neighbors to keep an eye out for me while he is gone? Did he call Steve Rak and have his crew do the driveway? Knowing Tony, it could have been any of those, but it sure was nice not to have to shovel.

I bought a new workout CD--Billy Blanks, Jr, Dance With Me--Groove & Burn, so I did that this evening. Fat and disgusting just isn't cutting it. I was working out to the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders for awhile, but they were depressing. When they swayed and coo-ed, "sexy walk, sexy walk" it was a whole lot different than when I did it. At least Billy is bald and black so I don't feel the same level of competition working out with him as I do the "chicks."

Work has been a zoo--but an exciting one. I wish I had found NYL years ago. There is so much to do and so little time.

And....I've been connected with two very dear friends in the past two days, that oddly have crossed my mind of late. Dave Jeanclerc (pronounced Jon-Clair) was a temp that I hired way back in my Chemical Financial days. He turned out to be pure gold, rising up through the ranks and staying with Chase Bank until apparently just recently. How nice that he reached out to me for help. And then, Len Chervenak. Len and I worked together at the Plain Dealer. We shared each other's work pain and had some really great times together. He used to have a dog that he named De O Ge. I didn't get the joke for quite a while...look again....D O G. De O Ge's name was just dog. I used to tease him that he was going to give the dog a complex by having no identity. Anyway, Len found me on LinkedIn. How small the internet makes the world.

Tomorrow, I hope to walk Ben home from school. I haven't been able to for the past two days due to work demands. I have my 3 dimes, so I'm ready to go.

And go, I should. It's just me here tonight, but I feel somewhat accomplished today. I had a healthy dinner and then worked out. I did the dishes and some laundry and got ready for garbage day. I even sewed a button back on to one of my blazers this evening. Go figure!

Happy Birthday, Jon

It's always nice to see Jenna, Jon and the kids, but it is especially fun when we have an event to celebrate. Saturday, we celebrated Jon's birthday with a great dinner made by Tony and the entertainment provided by Ben being cute, Sammy being his sweet self, (as you can see by his photo) and of course, Ellie being the little girl we just adore. She was awake and semi-smiling. I think she has finally figured out that her family is goofy but loveable!!

So, happy birthday, Jon. I hope you use your gift to get something that you will enjoy--just for you.

And now, the photos!!!


Ellie hears that the food Papa made is good, so she'd like a taste!!

Here's Sam doing his "photo face" saying "GEEZ"....or is this is rock star face? I always get them confused.

And here is the birthday boy and his big boy who helped blow out the candle.

Next up in June.....Mommy--oh boy, guys, get ready for more ice cream!!

Ellie Takes New York (Life!!)

New Mom, Allison holds 6 pound Ellie. Her son, Chaz, is 9 months old now.

"Old" Mom, Kim, has two boys--one almost ready for college--I think she's practicing for her own grandchildren!!

Sammy discovered the artwork that he and Ben made for me, hanging on my cube.

Jenna brought Ellie and Sam up to my office last week because everyone was dying to see my new grandchild. Sam had a great time playing with frogs and other trinkets that people had on their desks and at every turn, there was the offer of candy. He was content to play, hide, smile and tell eveyone that Ben was in school.

We couldn't get Ellie to wake up...God knows I tried, but she was her sweet, beautiful self and certainly made the day a little more fun for all of us at NYL.

Jenna looked great and was very kind in not laughing at the lady who asked her if she thought Ellie's jet black hair would eventually fall out and come back in red, like Jenna's. Seriously??!!!

I just love showing off my babies, including Jenna, of course!

Too Few and Then Too Many

Ben found his bird and snake in the "wayne foe-est"

Ben's snake

Ben's snake and bird

I have been walking Ben home from school this week and having a good time. One day, when we were getting ready to leave, I discovered I had two dimes in my coat pocket. I said to him, "here, I have some change for you." He didn't seem to understand what "change" was until he saw what I was giving him. "Money," he called out to his friends....and they all gathered around him...."ooohhh," they said, as if he was holding a million dollars. Emily asked to see one of the dimes...Ben said OK, but told her to make sure she gave it back. She did.

Ben was very intent on carrying his two dimes. "I'm going to put them in my piggy bank when I get home," he said. But where to put them???? His gloves didn't work, he was already wearing his backpack, so he said to me, "Moe Moe, I'll put them in my pockets." Ah, an excellent idea.

Ben took off his gloves and said, "I will put one dime in this pocket (the one on the right hand side of his jacket) and one in this pocket" (the left hand side of his jacket.) "Excellent idea," I said. He put them away, but before we could leave, he said..."Moe Moe, tomorrow you have to bring me 3 dimes, because, look, I have 3 pockets." And indeed he did...one on each side and one in the front.

I shared Ben's logic with many people at work and they all enjoyed the "Ben-ism." Today, before I left to pick him up, my friend, Pat, gave me two quarters. She said, "give one to Ben and tell him the other one is for Sam." How kind.

And so, off I went to pre-school. Today, I remembered to actually go to pre-school...yesterday, I got all the way to Jenna's and realized I forgot to pick him up....ah, it's hell to be this old....but, I was better today...I went to pre-school.

The class made a rain forest...or as Ben called it, the "Wayne-Foe-est." So I brought the camera to take pictures of his snake, bird and lizard.....except I couldn't find them. All of the snakes, birds and lizards looked exactly alike. The only difference was the child's name on them. I looked and looked and could not find Ben's creations. Time was running out. The school wanted to close and I had a meeting I had to attend. "Oh, here it is," I said to Ben, pointing up at a bird and a snake. But, from previous blogs you must know that Ben is smarter than I. He came running over to the bird and snake and looked up. "Moe Moe," he said...."E M I L" does not spell Ben. He was right. Emily made these creatures (the "y" was folded over.)

We searched again and he finally spotted his creatures. "Moe Moe, here they are. Right here, take a picture." And so I did.

As we were leaving school, I said to Ben, "oh, here's your 3 dimes." He took off his gloves and put one dime in each jacket pocket. "Thank you, Moe Moe," he said, "I'll put them in my bank when Sam gets up from his nap." Then I pulled out the two quarters from Pat. "Do you remember Miss Pat from when we had bagels," I asked? "Oh yes," he said. "Well," I continued, "she sent you and Sammy a quarter. Can you take these two quarters and put one in your bank and give one to Sammy?"

Ben, my sweet, Ben....looked up at me with those big blue eyes and said, "No Moe Moe, I can't." OK, I was puzzled. "Why not?" I asked him. As if he was explaining the simplest of concepts to the biggest moron on earth, he said...."(deep sigh)....because, Moe Moe, I only have 3 pockets. If you give me two more, I don't have anywhere to put them."

OK, I admit it, I went logical on him. "Just put them in your pocket and when you get home, give one to Mommy for Sammy and put one in your bank." There...I solved the problem. Ah, but indeed, it was a problem. Mr. Ben, my sweet, straight-forward Ben said, "but Moe Moe, what if I forget which one is mine and which one is Sam's?" OK, he had me. I didn't have an answer to that. To try to explain that one quarter was the same as the other....well, I couldn't do it....could you? Ben compartmentalizes...it's a simple as that.

And so, we walked home. We jumped on ice on the sidewalk that had accumulated, we talked about school, we talked about Sam and Ellie being babies. He told me that he didn't fit in his red, plastic car that Tony and I bought him anymore, but he was going to give it to Sam and Ellie. "I'm big now, " he said...and so he is.

I love walking home with Ben...no matter how many pockets he has or how many coins he has...his rationale always makes sense. "You are so much smarter than I was at your age," I told him today. "Moe Moe, " he said, "I know that, you told me already." And then he said...."remember, Moe Moe, the next time you pick me up, just bring 3 pennies. I only have 3 pockets." Logic....it's a wonderful thing.

When Tony Met Ellie

Tony finally got to meet Ellie on Friday. Like me, he was down with the flu and wanted to be healthy before going to see Ellie and the boys.

I remember the first time Tony held both Ben and Sam. Being a very hands-on father, himself, Tony wasn't worried about "breaking" the babies or getting "baby spit" on him. He held all of them like a pro. But this time, it was a little different. When Tony held the boys, he called them "big boys" and talked about getting older and having fun with Grandpa. This time, he talked about how pretty and small Ellie is. He talked to her in a gentle voice and held this tiny little thing gingerly in his strong arms. And, I think, like all fathers and grandfathers of little girls, he was hooked.

She slept quietly and contentedly in his arms knowing that like Jenna, Jon, the boys and Mo Mo, here was yet another person who would love and protect her.

Over the years, I have taken some good natured kidding about "building collections." Specifically, I buy baby clothes in various sizes when I figure our children will start to have children of their own. I save them up until it's time and by then, we have a nice, seasonal wardrobe for the baby. Just a side note: the Swegle/Perez and the Swegle/Phillips collections are currently in process.

With Ellie, I didn't really get a chance to do that. Plus, I was so sick, I couldn't leave the house. But, I did manage to get out and buy some hair bows, head bands and a "few" other things. Let's face it, when we have such good looking grandchildren, you have to put them in good looking clothes!! Everyone laughed at the clothes I bought Ellie, but I think they also all knew I had a wonderful time doing it and look forward to shopping trips with her and getting her nails done.

We had a great time seeing Ellie and playing with the boys. Sam gets cuter every day and is getting more vocal and Ben--well, what have I always said about Ben???? He has his father's eyes, his mother's smile and his grandmother's heart.

When Tony met Ellie, a grandfather met his first grand daughter and fell in love with another Purdum baby. We can't wait to see Ellie grow and play with the boys.