FNLEY COMES HOME

I couldn't decide whether to title this blog "FINLEY COMES HOME" or "GRANDMA NEEDS A DRINK". I decided to go with Finley because I am sure you would rather hear about the dear sweet baby than the husband hating, sleep deprived, back aching totally and completely PISSED woman who writes this blog. Let me  just say that God is playing with me and I am getting really tired of it!

On a happy note, the littlest member of  the family came home from the hospital today and he is looking and doing fine. He is so tiny! Only 19 inches long and a tiny little body. As are all babies, he is precious and beautiful. He is sleeping soundly and Keri has a hard time waking him to get him to eat but when he does eat he does a great job nursing. Steve and Keri look like they just had a baby . . . tired !  Ker keeps saying how she feels so much better than she did after Kaelin's birth but tonight she pulled a muscle and is now really hurting. Hopefully sleeping in their own bed tonight will help them both.  Big sister Kaelin is doing great and she and I spent the morning decorating for Finley's arrival. We had to bake a birthday cake because Kaelin insisted it was Finley's birthday and when you think about it she is right.

FINLEY STEPHEN

My daughter went and did it! She has brought another MALE into this world and if he turns out to be anything like his grandfather we should trade him in NOW for a sack of  potatoes !
This latest trip to MD has been a test of nerves and stamina for Grandma. Forget patience, I lost that about 2 hours North of Palm Beach Gardens. I just keep shaking  my head and repeating the same thing over and over . . . "HOW CAN HE BE SO STUPID?" (You can substitute the words, "DUMB . . . CLUELESS . . . DENSE . . . for the word stupid because all of them have been used at some point over this past week. There have been MANY other words used but this is a family friendly blog.)
Husband has out done himself in stupidity on this trip.  I really do wonder if it is Alzheimer's or just being Male. I apologize to those 2 men out there somewhere in the world who are not idiots but lets face it guys, when it comes to common sense you aren't working with a full deck. Unfortunately the reason guys are so dumb is because we women have made them that way. We think we are doing a wonderful thing by "taking care" of our men when in reality we are creating dependent lumps. My daughter-in-law Bridget got it right by "training" my oldest son right from the start of their relationship. DIL Kristen has yet to learn how to do that but she is getting better. I, like all moms, created these 2 reproductions of my Husband and now these poor girls they married have to join the ranks of all us wives who married "lumps".
I am not saying these men are "bad". They are great guys but God help me, they just don't have a clue how to see what needs to be done and DO IT. To be totally fair I have to tell you that Kyle is amazing and he is totally unlike his father. He has had to step up and "be in charge" on several occasions and he has done a fine job of it! 
As I fought my way through the past few days I kept thinking how great this time would have been if I had been traveling and caring for Kaelin with my 2 good friends Sharon and Jeanne. They would have been on top of everything that needed to be done and there wouldn't have been a single upset. As it is I am working on my last nerve with Husband. He should be very glad that we are not on a train or a ship because he would surely "FALL" off by accident.
And so littlest grandson Finley, and your cousins Roman and Smith, love your moms and dads but PLEASE take your life lessons from your moms. Your dads are fantastic guys but like your grandpas they just "HAVEN'T GOT A CLUE!"

RITA WITH AND "R"

I am imagining the conversation between God and Adam and Eve . . .
God - "Cain? Abel?  What sort of names are those? You couldn't name your kids something nice like Joe or Mary? You have to come up with something crazy like Cain?"
That conversation was had by great grandma Rita (with an "R") every time a child was born into this family. Her family had George and Thomas and Mary and Ann and of course, Rita (with an "R").
When we named our first born Kyle we thought Rita (with and "R") would have a heart attack. "Kyle? What kind of a name is that? Where did you come up with that?
And so it went for each of our children. When Kerrin was born Rita really went into action lobbying for Rita with an "R". We never did understand how you could possibly spell "Rita" any other way but with an "R" but Grandma ALWAYS said her name as "RITA WITH AN "R"". When our youngest child was born and we named him Kent we really thought Grandma would have "THE BIG ONE" and keel over dead for sure. To the day she died I swear she picked on that poor child just because of his name.
And now the world has come full cycle and grandma Rita is laughing herself silly! My first grand child is Abigail Abby for short. It is a beautiful name and fits her well. It is an old fashioned name. One that we hadn't heard for years but has made a reappearance. That seems to be the fashion these days .. . returning to the classic names of Sara, Catherine, Michael and Finley. WHAT?    Finley . . . where did that come from?
Today our newest grandchild was born. A beautiful little baby boy named FINLEY STEVEN. Steven is his dad's name but I don't know where Finley came from. He will be called FINN, which I do happen to like a lot. But if Grandma Rita saw the names of her great grandchildren . . . Roman, Kaelin, Smith and Finley she would be dropping dead on the spot.
Good thing she died years ago. But I am thinking I finally understand .

BLOGS IN SPACE !

Last night I sat up and wrote a blog and just before I posted it it disappeared.  I was using Steve's computer, in Steve's office/guest room. Ger had gone to sleep on the sofa bed and was grunting and groaning to let me know I needed to finish up and turn off the light. Under the best of circumstances I can screw up a soup sandwich but the pressure got to me and I was rushing to finish up so when the entire screen went blank I freaked!
(It was also an,"Oh screw this!" moment so I just shut down the computer, shut off the light, wandered around in the dark trying to find the bed and in general, just gave up!)
Things are a bit more calm today, Ger is sleeping once again but this time we are in a motel and I am using my own little travel computer. I guess I better back up a bit and bring you up to date.
Thursday of last week we took Aunt AM to the airport and waved her a fond farewell after 2 fabulous weeks in Florida with us. We hope to see her again in September when we are planning to return to England for 4 weeks. If the world is still standing and we still have a few dollars in our bank account Aunt AM, her daughter JM, Ger and I will fly over to London and spend 2 weeks touring. JM will then have to return to the states because, poor girl, she has a job to return to. We will remain in England with AM and see what further mischief we can get into. But in the mean time there is plenty to keep us busy. After we dropped AM at the airport we packed up the car and headed off on a road trip to Maryland for the arrival of our newest grandchild. Baby Cavanaugh will arrive tomorrow and Ger and I will be in charge of Kaelin.  What could be better than that !?  G and I made the trip to MD in 15 hours with a stop overnight in GA. We arrived here around dinner time so we called Keri and Steve and asked them to meet us at a local pizza place without telling Kaelin we would be there. The look on Kaelin's face when she climbed out of their car and saw us was worth 15 hours of driving. She and I have been attached at the hip ever since. Yesterday we helped get the baby room all set and then stayed out of daddy and mommy's way while they put together the baby's crib. Kaelin is now in her "new" princess room. The curtains, art table, new dresser, bed and walls are covered in princesses. It is quite the room for a little girl.
This morning Ger and I left the Cavanaugh's to themselves for a quiet day before the arrival of  "THE BABY"! Everyone is excited and exhausted so a quiet day is just what we all need. Tomorrow night, Monday, Kaelin will stay here at the motel with Ger and I so we can take her back and forth to the hospital to see mom and dad and new baby.
I'll be keeping you posted.  Please keep Keri and the baby in your  prayers that all goes well with the "C" section. We are betting on a boy . . .

I'M GOING IN CIRCLES

The pool is finished and looking fine !  That is one thing I can cross off the list.  Our taxes have turned out to be a huge mess that H&R Block created but we have gotten it straightened out and may even get our money back from H&R plus money from the government ? ! !   Is that possible ?  Our 2 weeks with Aunt AM have been great fun and we are sorry to see her leave tomorrow but anxious to get on the road to MD to see Keri and help her out this weekend before our newest grandchild is born.
Ann Marie's visit was great but we dragged her around running errands the entire time.  I hope she enjoyed herself in spite of our busy schedule. She did get to spend A LOT of time at the community pool and she and I had a fantastic day at the beach yesterday.  Yesterday was the perfect beach day complete with gentle cooling breeze,  calm waters and lots of people to watch.  AHHHHHHHHHHHH !  Living in Paradise is so great !

I'll be in touch along the way to MD and to let you know when Keri has the baby.  Till then, stay healthy, happy and CALM ! (If you figure out how to do the "calm" thing be sure to let me know.)

I'M STILL HERE

As I was thinking about my blog tonight the title got me thinking about my mother. The quote,"I'm still here!"  originated with my mom. She was partial to blowing up things in the kitchen. LITERALLY!  And after the explosions my dad and I would come running to see what happened only to see my mom's head pop around the corner to tell us, "I'm still here!" On at least 2 occasions she thought she had lit the gas oven only to realize the gas was not lit. (Thinking back on it she probably had twelve thousand things on her mind, my father was NO help what so ever. Which explains why I married Husband. Don't they say a girl marries "her father"?) Anyway, the poor woman was so frazzled that she just lit another match and opened the oven door. After the shock wave subsided we were amazed to find my mom fine and dandy. HOW? I'll never know.  She must have had a very powerful Guardian Angel. Then there was the time that she blew up the pressure cooker. If you don't know what that is try Googling it. The top blew off that thing and went right up to the ceiling where it left a mark for years to come. Once again my mom escaped injury, Thank You God! And after all that, cancer killed her at 62.  That just plain sucks.
So anyway, I just wanted to let you know that my spleen has not ruptured and my kidneys are still functioning after my tumble in the stadium on Wednesday. I do have a small bruise, nothing like the one I had when I fell in England or fell over the dish washer, or in the street when I was walking the dog.
I guess I am seeing a pattern here . . .  like mother like daughter.  She blew things up and I fall over things.

DO YOU REALLY NEED YOUR SPLEEN ?

I may be able to answer that question sooner rather than later.
I did something stupid today and banged my lower back on the arm of a chair at the base ball stadium.  I'm not worried about my kidneys because I have 2 of them but I don't know if I need my spleen.
I have done a lot of stupid things in my life. There was the time when I was about 10 that I decided to "parachute"  off the stoop using an umbrella as my parachute. (For those of you who did not grow up in "The City, otherwise known as NY,  the stoop was the platform of brick or cement at the top of the stairs leading up to your front door.) Our stoop was about 40 feet high, (at least that was what it looked like to me as a kid. In actuality it was about 4 feet high.) I jumped off and twisted my ankle and couldn't walk for days.  As a teen in college there were many stupid things of which we shall not mention. As a new mother there was the first "STUPID" when I locked my 3 month old first born in the car in a parking lot with my keys in the car. It was pretty much down hill from there for the years of raising kids. Mostly because I was a zombie due to sleep deprivation partly I drank a lot. Stupid was a daily occurrence for about 20 years ending with me falling over the dish washer door and breaking my arm.
So I am not a stranger to STUPID but today was super stupid. Actually it was just a matter of forgetting that I am 65 years old and should NOT be climbing over stadium seats like a 20 year old. But when you want to get out of your row to go pee and the row is filled with people and you are in the middle of the row,  well, it just seems like a great idea to step on my seat and climb into the next row where there were only 2 people sitting. Good Plan . . .  too bad it didn't work as planned.  I lost my balance, fell backwards and hit my lower back on the arm of the seat. (And in answer to your question, NO ONE caught me! . . . I mean seriously, would you attempt to catch an out of control hippo? I thought not! And NO! I was NOT graceful!)
I naturally did the JUMP UP . . . TURN AROUND . . . SMILING . . . saying to all within "oooooooohing" distance, "I'M FINE!"  Yea, right, like I meant to do that!  It's part of the show!
By the end of the game my back had stiffened up. But it only hurts when I move, and I can't climb stairs, and by tomorrow it should be black and blue and purple and green.
That's if I wake up.

BETSY ROSS I'M NOT

When you think about it Betsy Ross did a  pretty amazing job sewing our flag. And she didn't have a sewing machine ! Maybe that is the reason she did such a great job.
I have undertaken the project to make curtains for Keri's children's rooms. Kaelin is moving into the Princess Room so naturally she needed Princess Curtains. Grandma offered to MAKE them. WHAT WAS I THINKING ?  I bought the fabric and sewed the curtains. They look BLAUGH !  I mean, how hard are curtains? Even with a liner they are still easy. Sew together 3 sides, turn inside out and sew the top together with a space for the curtain rod. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy as Abby and Roman would say.
Easy Peasy my ass !  I am just not as clever as I think I am and I get these big ideas of ways to fancy up the curtains. Then I start sewing and realize that my wonderful ideas are not going to work with my level of expertise.
I still break out in a cold sweat when I remember 8th grade Home Economics. It was the year to learn how to sew and the final project was to MAKE our own graduation dresses. I was the only one wearing a sack!
We had to buy the fabric, the pattern, and thread. I think my dress was blue but I really can't remember. It is one of those memories I have tried to forget over the years. All I remember is I still wasn't wearing a bra and ALL the girls were prancing around trying on their dresses as they progressed looking terribly "perky" in their cute little undergarments. I think That might have been part of the reason I balked at the idea of sewing. Then there were the dreaded machines to sew on. They were archaic beasts that would chew up your material and spit it out not looking anything like it was supposed to. (It had nothing to do with my lack of talent, it was the fault of the machine.) I did produce a "dress" which I did wear to graduation, praying all the while that it would not start falling apart as I walked up the aisle of the auditorium or on to the stage to receive my diploma. I truly cannot remember anything other than walking down the aisle so I hope the dress held together and it is not another bad memory that I have blocked over the years. I don't have any memories of standing there in my undershirt but anything is possible.
Back to the curtains . . . As you now see, I have had some experience sewing. My mother could make just about anything on her sewing  machine so I figure some of her talent should have rubbed off on me. NOT !
But how hard can curtains be?  Kaelin got her curtains, not great but at least they have princesses on them. Now I decided to make curtains for the new baby's room.  Once again thinking, how hard can this be. Then I started thinking . . .  how can I fancy these up?  I bought 2 different fabrics, both will baby animals on them. Solid green for the lining. Put it all together and VOILA, cute little curtains for the baby room.
It has been 4 days and I only have one window curtain ALMOST done.  I still have to finish off the top. They do look cute but good grief, I could have bought pure silk curtains from China for the time and effort I am putting into this.
BUT this is what Grandma's do. And we do it will love and joy!
Next time I will lovingly and joyfully check out the Penney's catalogue.

HAPPY ST. PAT'S DAY . . . A LITTLE EARLY

Who is that handsome little Irishman ?  Why that is Little Man Smith, the cutest leprechaun in town.
Today was Fort Lauderdale's annual St. Patrick's Day parade and we were there wearing our green and having a great time.  Ger, Aunt Ann Marie and I drove down to go to the parade with Smith and his parents. It was Smith's first parade and except for the one fire horn he loved the whole thing. The parade was much different from the ones we were used to up in Miller Place, NY. There were limited fire engines, (only about 10) and very limited Girl and Boy Scouts. Without fire engines from all the towns on Long Island and a massive amount of scouts Miller Place wouldn't have had a parade. Ft. L did much better! There were the policemen at the beginning of the parade doing tricks on their motor cycles, soccer teams kicking, lots of bag pipes and drums playing, some woman's gym that was not going to get any new members from the look of the group on the float, (WOW,  those were some really BIG butts!) and there was even a garbage truck. My personal favorite was the women's roller derby team who were wearing some REALLY interesting outfits but could skate like anything. Oh Yea,  and the Star Wars group complete with Darth Vader wearing a balloon hat!

Now that is just something you don't see every day!
The day was warm and sunny with a light breeze and beer concessions on every corner.  What more could and Irishman want? Or a Floridian for that matter.

ON STAND BY

The baby is coming,   the baby is coming !   We are on alert for Keri and the new baby.  Keri is on weekly visits to the baby doctor and at this weeks visit the doc wouldn't do an internal for fear of putting Keri into labor. It seems that last week Keri was one centimeter dilated already. The baby is measuring 2 weeks ahead of schedule and Keri is having some contractions and back pain. We may have a new grand baby before we know it.
Just keep the prayers going because the baby's heart beat has been low these past few months so I think it could use a few extra prayers that all is well with our new little person.
Keri is feeling wonderful and had been at the gym working out the morning of her last doctor appointment. She is still working and plans on working until March 25th. (The baby is due the 28th!) She is a better woman than I am.  I quit working 4 months before I was due.  No taking chances for this old lady. These young girls are something else. I guess the fact that Keri only gained 14 pounds for the entire pregnancy, (compared to my 35 for EVERY pregnancy! And I still haven't lost it.) would  make her feel great.  She did say she had a dream the night of her doctor visit that her water broke in the gym so she promises she won't go to the gym again until after the baby arrives.
Aunt AM is here at our house for 2 weeks so she may end up here alone if Keri goes early. Wouldn't that just be the luck.   But when ever it happens you will be sure there will be pictures for you to see.

Keep those prayers going!

THANK YOU !

Thank you Comcast cable and Sharon & Bob ! Thank you for making me even crazier than I was before.
The joys of a TV set are just not worth the hassle of cable wires and remote controls.  We had an OLD TV and it worked fine. We had ONE clicker that had an on/off button and that worked fine.  Then along came cable. It is like Satan dressed in a cute little bunny costume.  "BUY ME!" screams the cable company. I will give you endless hours of mind numbing TV stations all for the low cost of . . . FREE !  (We live in a community that provides cable service. What more could you want from life?) Well, for one thing you now don't just want to watch STUPID TV you want the smart stations too. DISCOVERY, NOVA, HISTORY, CNN, FOX NEWS . . .   You want them too, then you have to get THE BOX!  The box is Satan's cute little bunny friend. It lulls you into the sense of happiness and numbness because now you have TWO clickers and can access all sorts of stupid TV.
So . . . we have a NEW TV that needs cable. The cable needs a NEW box. The NEW box needs a NEW clicker and I need a degree in engineering to make all of these things come together and WORK!
Husband sits in his chair with 3 clickers in his lap and cannot figure out which one to use for what. I know that ONE clicker should work everything but that ain't happening. There are times when the cable is on and the TV is off. The TV is on and the cable is off. Throw in the freaking DVD player and all hell breaks loose.
Husband was at his wits end tonight. (Not a long trip if you know Husband) The TV wasn't working at all. It would go on but that was it! NO picture. Just a little box with the words "NO SIGNAL". Husband was on the verge of tears and that is something. The man did not cry at his mother's funeral.  I have NEVER seen him cry, but tonight was close. I got the pitiful plea to "PLEASE FIX THE TV".  My first thought was to throw the damn thing into the empty pool but I know Sharon & Bob meant well when they bought this evil thing for us. After 20 minutes of wiggling wires and cursing I finally ripped the cable wire out of the box, attached it directly to the TV, hid two of the 3 clickers and will call the cable company tomorrow.
When did a quiet evening in front of the TV turn into a 2 Valium and a half gallon of ice cream night?

WHERE HAVE I BEEN?

You can always tell when I am depressed.  I go into my shell and don't come out for anything.
And I wouldn't dare to blog when I am feeling low because you would never tune in to this blog again.
But things are looking up so here I am again.
Now what in God's name do I have to get depressed about? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING !  I will be the first to admit it and yet every now and then I have the need to wallow in self pity. Poor Ger just shakes his head and stays out of my way knowing that it will pass eventually. And it does!
This past week was just filled with little (some not so little) annoyances. Things like the income tax that we had to get working on. (I use the term "WE" very loosely) It finally got to the point that I was so freaked out at the amount of money we would have to pay we threw all the papers in a bag and took off for H&R Block.  They did manage to do better for us but I still need to sell my first born child and one of our cars. Damn you IRS !
After that there was the microwave breaking down while I was in the middle of cooking dinner, I gained 4 pounds, (even with a broken microwave or maybe because of it.), we got a bill for $1100 from Enterprise for damage on the car we rented on our last trip to Maryland, (We cannot see the damage that THEY claim is there), and I think I am getting another "cold".

I guess we have been cruising along just so blessed that I have forgotten how S - - T happens. And I freak! But things are all slowly being taken care of, Ger has been great in helping me deal with all that is going on, (except for the weight gain. His solution for problems is cake and ice cream which always works for me!)  Aunt Ann Marie arrived today so she will distract me from some of my worries, Friend Jeanne is still here in Florida so she is distracting me, we baby sat little man Smith over night this past weekend and that was a FANTASTIC distraction! He is just adorable and the very best baby in the whole wide world. I mean, is this kid CUTE or what ! He never stops smiling. We will see him again this coming weekend when we go down to Ft. Lauderdale to go to a St. Patrick's Day Parade with Smith and his mom and dad.
On the other hand we may be on our way to Maryland for our daughter Keri. She is having her baby on March 28th . . . IF . . . she doesn't go into labor early. She called tonight and said she is starting to dilate already and the doctor told her to take it easy. Keri is feeling so great that she is still going to the gym and is planning on working up until March 25th.  I think she better slow down or Smith will have a new cousin sooner than was expected.
So with all this going on I'll have a lot to write about and should be talking with you a lot more than I have been. We have the pool half finished so I have to get pictures of that to share with you and who knows what adventures we'll have with Aunt Ann Marie. Keep checking in and I promise to entertain you one way or another.

"CAN I HELP?"

The most dreaded words I can hear are "can I help?'. They always come from Husband AFTER I have finished doing what ever the hell it was that I could have used some help with.  I know, IF I NEED HELP I SHOULD ASK . . .  Agreed. BUT !  There are some things that I WANT help with but I really can't use help.
Like INCOME TAX . . .     What I WANT is for Husband to DO the taxes. Just collect all the shit from the year and DO SOMETHING with it !  That ain't happening!  Never has, never will! You know it and I know it and when I do get some help it screws things up so badly I wish I had never asked.
Today was THE day. I decided I couldn't put it off any longer, (I had 2 really good blogs all set in my head but knew I really, really REALLY had to get working on this crap.)
I have a bag that hangs on the bedroom door and all year long I toss anything tax related into that bag. I had taken the bag down about a week ago, (when I was feeling soooooooo lousy that I couldn't do much else). I sorted papers. added up donations, (no easy task since I have over 30 charities that I donate to over the year) and checked out what I thought I was still missing.
As I sat down at the computer today to start in on Turbo Tax Husband wandered by inquiring what I was doing. When I told him he said the dreaded words, "Can I help?" This is not so much an offer to add something to this God Awful task as it is a plea to keep him company and give him something to do so he feels useful. (Once again we are finding things to entertain the 2 year old.) I KNOW BETTER . . . I know I am supposed to say "Gee, thanks dear but I've got it covered." but I ALWAYS think, "What the hell, Ger can help. He can add something to this process."  NO  NO   NO   NO   NO   NO   NO  NO !!!!  STUPID STUPID STUPID!  But I said it anyway, "SURE, you can help."  And that was the end of a perfectly lovely day.
It is now 6 hours later. Papers are strewn all over the bed and the floor. I haven't even made a dent in the taxes, I am totally confused as to what I have covered and what I haven't looked at, there is a knot in my stomach the size of a coconut and I owe the government something like sixteen thousand dollars.
Husband is watching TV. I am sucking on a Valium lollipop while drinking a bottle of rum. (Nah, just kidding. But that really does sound like the only way I am going to sleep tonight.) As soon as I finish this blog I am going to google H&R Block and make an appointment for tomorrow.

POOL REMODEL

You think we would have learned to not do any more projects around this place .  .  . BUT  .  .  .
the pool had a leak. And the leak led to finding a bunch of places where the 30 year old pool is crumbling and leaking under the patio. And so the snow ball starts to roll !

Thirty years ago we had a leak in the bathroom of our house in Miller Place and ended up adding an entire second floor to the house. We are dangerous to say the least once we put our mind to home repairs. The window fiasco was just one of the many adventures we have had with our lovely Florida home so I can only imagine what we will run into with the pool. But the time has come to fix up the old pool and make it look new. We will empty it tonight and tomorrow the work will begin on taking off all the old tile, sand blasting the sides and bottom, putting on new tile, resurfacing the pool, putting in new railings and ladder, and putting in a new pump and filter. What could possibly go wrong?
The patio surface will have to wait because we just can't afford to do the whole job all at once. But the colors are planned so hopefully within a year the entire pool area will have a make over. All Ger and I have to do is live another 100 years so we'll get to enjoy all these changes.