What goes around, comes around...

It's been a week now that Alexa has been officially a student at Cornell. Technically we are empty nesters but with my MIL living with us it doesn't feel like that. We just eliminated the teenage element. The move went pretty smoothly. Cornell has it's act together when it comes to moving in. We had to display a loading permit in our windshield that showed the date, time, and dorm we were moving into to just get into the lot. They had lots of staff and students in red shirts directing traffic, handing out hand cart tickets, calling out directions with a loudspeaker, checking the rooms offering help, even maintenance was there to collect boxes to be thrown out. Here is a little pictorial.

Donlon Hall. The kids in the red shirts under the overhang were responsible for directing people into the dorm and matching up families with students who had hand carts and were loading up possessions (like the gentlemen in the forefront) to take up to rooms.

As soon as you got permission to enter the unloading circle right in front of the dorm you were directed to where to park and instructed to quickly unload your car, place your belonging on the sidewalk or grass behind the barriers and then to move your car! No dilly dallying around here! They also gave you a ticket - for a handcart to help move your stuff inside, which was good as Alexa is on the fourth floor and yes, they have elevators, thank you! They were on number 360 when we got there and our number was 415...

Norm was directed to a lot or more appropriately a grassy area about a mile away from the dorm to park the car. He started to walk back but luckily they had shuttle buses and was able to catch a ride. The parking lots were like Disney World, license plates from every state you can image.

These shots are from the week before, when we got to bring 1/2 her stuff early. Thank you Sharon for the hand cart! As you can see we moved furniture! placing her bureau under her bed. We had to buy a step ladder because she couldn't get onto the bed it was so high!

Here are some of the 'afters'. AFTER we had everything brought in, after we put together her lamp and cubbies, after her roommate moved in, but BEFORE she had a chance to clean up/put away anything.

I could not resist this one, sorry sweetie! It was all about the duvet and duvet cover! Lex got the duvet in the cover but the cover is larger than the duvet and was not laying flat so Lex 'dived' into the duvet, inside the cover to straighten it out.

I still have a list of things to return, exchange and finish for her. The bulletin board in the first picture above needs to be hung. Got to send her the fixings for that. No extension cords but she can have power surge protectors with longer chords. A new mattress cover because the one we had had a broken zipper, more Command hooks. The list goes on and on. Also, I have to finish an art project or two, or three for her.

Lex sent away for these wooden monograms for herself and her roommate, Katie. I got one-two coats of paint on them but they need more, a little sanding and maybe a coat of poly. (Lex's is the pink one and yes, I know, it's backwards. I painted both sides).

The campus is beautiful and HUGE! After we moved her in we had booked a hotel room the closest I could get - Skaneateles, and we had about an hour drive to get there! It was a very nice drive but we had to find a laundromat because we had to do Alexa's laundry from the week before! I know, we shouldn't have but lets call it our parting gift. So this is how we spent our Friday night, doing laundry in Auburn...

Back to campus. We arrived the next day after doing her laundry, picking up fruit, granola bars, milk and the step ladder I mentioned. Dumped it all in her room and left! Lex was heading to lunch, she had orientation meetings after so we were pretty much done! Norm and I decided to walk from North Campus to Central Campus and go to the bookstore. We needed some Cornell swag... and took in the sights along the way. 

 Looking from where the tower (below) was down the large quad hill to where my BFF Barbara lived when she was a student. You can see Lake Cayuga in the upper right corner.

 The bell tower. They were having tours but after finding out I'd have to walk all the way up, I decided I need to at least her junior year before I had the stamina to do so.

 Ithaca is Gorges! This is from the one of the bridges that crosses over to the central campus, just beautiful! Below is a reprint from an old magazine about the same spot, Triphammer Falls.

Lastly, what goes around comes around. If you are friends with me on Facebook you saw this picture recently. The duck on the left comes from the hotel we stayed in in San Francisco on our way to China. The duck on the right came from the Cornell Bookstore. What a trip!

She's Moving on Out!

Not permanently, but it's beginning to look like it!

Alexa has been getting ready for college by staying up really late, sleeping in really late and shopping a really lot!

UPS has been making daily deliveries as so much of the college list is only obtainable on-line, for Alexa that is...Yes, I know, there are real brick and mortar stores that carry bedding, linen, printers, clothing, etc. but none that are acceptable for our Miss Priss. It's also of the utmost importance that her color scheme coordinates with her roommates colors... Then there is the storage. Even I'll acknowledge that dorm room are woefully short on storage, but seriously, how much does she think she'll be able to squeeze into this room!

Lex's roommate, Katie, is a Long Island girl, yeah! They seem to be getting on very well, on-line so far, and I do have a sincere wish that they hit it off and are compatible and comfortable living together. I have been of very little help to her on that front. I had a terrible time with roommates. Over three years of my college rooming experience I had 5 roommates, all of which I had no choice in selecting. My best roommate was someone I would have gladly roomed with again, but she had decided to move off campus with other friends for the next year before we were matched up.

My first roommate was very shy, very studious, a huge early bird both getting up and going to bed and totally freaked by my having a boyfriend (my future husband). My second roommate had her own boyfriend - at a different college, she was a year behind me and had no interest in being friends. Her boyfriend transferred to our school for the next semester, she moved out and I don't think I ever saw her again! My third roommate was a slob - now I don't say that lightly because I am not neat by any stretch of the imagination, but this girl was way over the top! Academically, she didn't do so well and dropped out before the end of the semester.

Huntress Hall (don't you love the name!)

We even had a live in ghost, Harriet Huntress whose wheelchair could be heard rolling around in the attic on occasion 

I was then 'asked' to move up to the third floor and move in with Melissa. The girls on the third floor of my dorm had a certain wild, party-girl reputation and I was a bit nervous to move upstairs. However, Melissa was great, we got along fabulously which surprised us both. I'm sorry we couldn't have roomed together the following year. My third year I was matched in a large double with a girl who was basically nice and we did get along but she was never there on weekends, she smoked, was several years out of the traditional high school direct to college time line and I think was seeing a married man on her weekends. Just the impression I got from her very cryptic answers whenever I asked about her weekends and where she went.

Senior year I requested a single. I was done. It worked out great as I had student teaching my first semester (what a nightmare that was!), I was engaged and I was obviously not roommate material. Here's hoping my outgoing, friend-heavy daughter has much, much better luck than I do!

Graduation

Seventeen years ago, on this date, we were in China. We had had Alexa for a total of 4 days as of June 28, 1998. Look where she is now. Alexa ranked 7th in her class, graduated with honors and is  attending Cornell University in the fall. 

They awarded the class officers their diplomas first then they honored the top ten students in the class by awarding them their diplomas and having them stand together as a group. I don't dwell a lot on what Alexa's birth parents went through in deciding to give her up, nor have I thought a lot about them over the years, but Sunday I wish they could have seen her and known how she has thrived and how much she has accomplished since they entrusted her to our care. I'd like them to know how much we cherish this precious gift they gave us.

Lex and Laryssa

She spared us just a moment for a picture or two

With some of her friends

 Again, with proud Mom and Dad

On to the next chapter...

Buffalo Solid....

I enjoy sports, watching sports that is, I'll never be an enthusiastic participant. From my early days when every school coach took one look at me and thought they had a new player for their basketball team - until I touch the ball...till today when my husband still insists I throw like a girl, well DUH! I like watching sports - I'm a veteran of everything from the PGA, PBA, MLB and NFL. I also enjoy NASCAR, an occasional tennis match, the Wesminster Kennel Club Dog Show and curling when I can find it (I still need someone to explain the rules to me though).

Buffalo is a very sports savvy town. Being a New Yorker, all be it a downstate NYer, who grew up on the Jets, Giants, Mets and Yankees (who never really considered Buffalo part of my NY, yes I'm a snob, I know it). I have been know to switch alliances over the years. I grew up a Met and Jet fan. Oh, the days of the Miracle Mets! I even conned my mother into turning over her World Series ticket to me so I could take my brother to a game during the 1969 series via the Long Island Rail Road. That is a story for another day. Baseball today, I've been turned to dark side as I say - I'm now a dyed in the pinstripes New York Yankee fan (blame my husband).

Anyway, I was also a Jet fan thanks to my friend Barbara who LOVED Joe Namath when we were in high school. My football allegiance lasted until shortly after college. I went to school in New Hampshire and we lived in Boston the first two and a half years we were married. From then till now my football heart belongs to the New England Patriots (a dangerous team to support these days especially in this town!) I'm not a Bills fan and I never will be. That doesn't mean I dislike the Bills, they are kinda endearing in a hapless sort of way. But the one thing I will say about Buffalo is that they LOVE their pro teams. Everyone loves the Bills and the Sabres (hockey). What I especially find admirable is that this love is not just from the guys out there it's from the women of Buffalo also. I don't know about other football towns but how many morning drive djs made up of a man and a woman combo both get genuinely excited about a new football coach coming to town, or a veteran hockey player getting his number retired.

My daughter listens to Kiss 98.5 here in Buffalo and now that she is driving my car radio is set to this station more often than not. The other day the morning jocks were all gaga over Rex Ryan becoming the new Bills coach. They did a remix of a song, plugging in Ryan and his comments from his first press conference. The woman especially knew about his history, the Bills history, what they need, what they were good at, what they were bad at and how Ryan could make the team better! I was impressed.

It goes farther than that. Women in Buffalo love and know their sports teams. My daughter has friends who follow hockey! They know the Sabres players, how they are doing, etc. I have acquaintances at work who follow Bills games and everyone, I mean EVERYONE knows the Pegulas - or Terry and Kim, as they are affectionately know here. It's a very nice thing to see. I'm still a Patriot fan, (love my Tommy boy - hate Belichek, but doesn't everyone!) and will be excited at maybe seeing a game if Alexa goes to school in Boston. But Buffalo has it solid with it's love, loyalty and support of the Bills and Sabres (no matter how awful they are)! You have to admire and love that and I do.

Celebration Weekend...

We had a beautiful weekend here in western NY. We had the honor of being invited to the wedding of one the first friends we made when we moved to Buffalo, Lisa Marsherall. Lisa married Jeff Faunce this weekend. It was a second marriage for both and it was a beautiful ceremony, perfect for these two wonderful and deserving people.

Both Lisa and Jeff work at Medaille and Norm got an honorable mention in the ceremony and shares March 11 with the happy couple. They had their first date on March 11 at a Dunkin Donuts and March 11 is Norm's birthday! Karma!

On Sunday I got to go to my boss's daughters's baby shower. We love Jessica and Scott and are so happy for them. They are having a baby girl and everything, I mean everything was pink!

There was also pink wine, tons of pink and adorable baby clothes and accessories and Jessica wore a pink top. Here she is judging the 'How big is Jess's belly?' contest.

There were games, although the dirty diaper game was a bit much for me. Relax, it was little diaper filled with baby food and we had to guess what flavors they were by sniffing them. I passed on that one ;-)

It was a wonderful weekend and to top it off both the Patriots AND Browns won! Fall doesn't get any better than this!

Fall is FINALLY here!

Do you ever look at the lottery drawings, watching all those little balls bouncing around in those clear containers each one with a different number and possibility and say - "That's what my brain must look like inside?" Well, I do...

So many thoughts, too little brain, too much pinging going on in my lottery container. Let's see what pops up first!

In no particular order, Alexa's 'Last, First Day of School' I've taken a photo of Alexa's first day of school for the past 13 years. Here is the last one...I've got to dig out the film version of her first one to look back on. (Now, don't tell anyone I said so, it would ruin my image as a cold, unsentimental grump, but God, she is so pretty and I love these two so much...tears are forming).

Next up! I've been doing a two page layout each month since the first of the year using the new Graphic 45 releases. I love this paper but I struggled with this layout. Photos of my tennis star, aka, Alexa will grace these pages. I've also got done my Halloween layout and may start my Nov/Dec layouts using the "Raining Cats and Dogs" and Christmas paper (I can't remember the name of the collection).

Photos, photos, photos! Getting senior photos these days is like getting wedding photos. You go to a studio, you have location shots, formal shots - 400 proofs! Well, Heather, our photographer took 400 digital photos we now get to choose from 75 of them, 10 to be re-touched.

We also have to 'buy' a senior parent page. Lucky parents get to buy a 1/4, 1/2 or FULL page in the yearbook to congratulate their child on graduating high school. On the plus side, you get to choose your photos, even embarrassing childhood photos, and you write a heartfelt message to your child that everyone will get to read. On the down side, whatever happened to students selling space to local businesses to help fund the cost of the book! Do you know how much these page selections cost?! As Alexa is on the yearbook committee/club, as I said above, we've been told we MUST buy one of these ads (and create it or pay someone else too!) KA-CHING!!

My hair is a mess and my hairdresser suggested I might want to change my color. How does red sound/look to you? All my stress goes to my hair and skin. I'm like that poor character in Ocean's 13, the reviewer who checks into Al Pacino's casino only to be visited by every plague, illness, condition and misery that Clooney and his pals can come up with. I'm starting to look like him. So I'm not sure changing my hair to red so it matches my itchy, flakey, red, blotchy, rash like skin is that great an idea. Plus, my hair doesn't look like this! It's flat, limp, straight as a board and will not hold a curl for any longer than 5 minutes. I'm open to suggestions...

Shopping with my daughter for myself. I usually don't do it. To say our tastes in MY clothes are different is an understatement! I bit the bullet (more like a shotgun cartridge) and let her come with me as I looked for some summer tops. These are her picks...

 These are mine...

Out of about 15 tops tried on, I came home with three. On the plus side, and size, two were Alexa picks. Maybe I should let her come more often...

That is a short? recap of the end of summer and the beginning of fall here. Oh, and I have all this time to type this because of this...

Alexa has her license, a junior license (because she didn't go through the 300 hours+ that NYS requires for a 17year old to get a regular license) and she can drive by herself, up to 9:00 pm and with only one other non-family individual in the car. Whereas I cringe every time she leaves the house, (she still needs a lot of experience) the only way she will improve is to practice and drive more. So I'm home typing my blog and she took the car to school and will be able to drive herself home after tennis tonight. Change is good, change is good, change is good...

See you soon.

The Muir's Victory Garden...

We live on a very nice street, with dutiful neighbors who tend to their yards, religiously, or have a lawn service that does. The people who owned our house before us had a landscaping service and we were excited when we first saw the house because we thought if the inside looked as good as the outside we found our Buffalo home. 

We had a lovely red Japanese maple, a string of manicured evergreen bushes that framed the front of the house and a hydrangea bush in the front right. Well the hydrangea went first. Winter was not it's friend. We had to pull it out. The lovely little red maple went next, along with the bushes in front of the door. They turned an ugly shade of rust and we had to pull them out. Last winter was the final straw, almost everything died. 

We'd get regular 'reminders' from my MIL about how nicely all our neighbors kept their yards and wasn't it too bad Norm didn't 'get' his father's talent-desire-ability-gene-pride - whatever, for keeping the yard 'perfect'. The shame was unbearable...we were homeowner failures :-(  So we sucked it up, put our big girl and boy pants on and...paid someone to pick out the right shrubs and trees, design a plan and plant it! Here is the result.

I picked out the flowers, petunias and geraniums! We can know show our faces in public. Our neighbors are speaking to us again, victory is good and blooming!

Stuff...

I love Stuff! I think I've said this before... I thought I'd share some of my stuff. I'm also a hopeless copy-cat. I have several friends who have started various collections and I've shamelessly started the same kind of collections. They are terrible enablers...

Let me give you a little back story, First, I have a friend who travels all over the world. She collects, among other things, floaty pens. You all remember floaty pens. These are ball point pens that have liquid in the upper portion of the pen and when you tilt them a picture/object/whatever slides up and down in the upper barrel usually advertising the place you are visiting. Easy to collect, easy to pack, takes up very little space - sometimes hard to find. I cannot visit any attraction, museum, airport,  touristy thingy without looking for floaty pens. I send my husband, daughter and friends on floaty pen searches! I'm excited because my friend Barbara brought a pen back from Paris!!! for me. I carry around a pen from Boston in my pocketbook because I want to carry it with me and play with it!

OK, that's one collection. I've got a little collection of old globes because of my same traveling friend. I do specialize in pre-WWII though. The older the better, but, I'm getting off track. The topic was STUFF!

I have a small bedroom in my house that serves as a mini guest room, my computer room, my craft room and my Stuff room...I love everything in this room, clutter and all (and there's lots of that). I've covered the walls and every surface with things that bring a smile to my face. It's my happy place when I'm home. So here's a little peek at some of my stuff.

Every year there is a craft show at the Fairgrounds in Hamburg. Usually there is an artist who makes these miniature flowers out of clay. I've got a collection of mini-orchids; all types, but mostly cymbidiums and phalenopsis - love them! Behind them I have one of the last pictures of my parents with myself, Norm and Alexa. Right where I can see it, everyday.

My motto - "Life is what happens while we are making other plans." It's the title of my life. It's not a negative and in many cases in my life for each negative there are many more positives to off-set. It also helps keep me humble.

More orchids, pictures of Norm with Kasey, my grandfather who I never knew and my little teapots. Also, the tip of my stamps. I keep several stamps at my desk that are there more for their words, wicked and true, and just because they make me smile.

Old stuff and new stuff. There is a gift store near me that sells these hand made embroidered felt and bead ornaments, I have everything from mini stockings to butterflies, bunnies, fall wreathes, birds - I'm always looking for something new. I also collect key chains - unusual key chains. The one in this photo is Achmed the Dead Terrorist, one of the puppets Jeff Dunham has created. This key chain even talks! Most of the rest of my key chains are hanging from my big Cropper Hopper that I take to scrapbook crops with me.

The keychain and butterfly are hanging from two old bottles I found at various estate sales. This is my boss, Sharon's fault! She got me started going to garage sales (didn't care so much for those) and then going to estate sales. I check them out every week. I started by looking for salt and pepper shakers that were made in Occupied Japan. They aren't worth a lot, but I like unique ones, colorful ones, different ones and I'm always on the lookout for the stamp 'Made in Occupied Japan'. The orange ones in the photo below (right back) were my first. Little beakers, unusual bottles, quirky little things, 'smalls' as they are known, are my thing.

On top of the ancient TV in my room I have these stuffed Basset Hounds. The smaller one is WebKidz, remember those?! My daughter had to have many, many of them! The larger was made by a woman from Penn Yan who used to work for one of the companies that made collectible bears. I also have a blonde panda bear she made, but I have a fond affection for Bassets as my first dog as a child was a Basset Hound, Duffy. Like my RCMP salt and pepper shakers? The little wreath on the wall behind the dogs I've had for close to over 30 years. Norm and I would go to a yearly craft show in Chester, NJ and there was a vendor who made tiny mice that were like pin cushions. Hand sewn, very detailed and just adorable. I've got several including several Christmas ornaments. This one was set inside a miniature wreath with ribbon, silk flowers and leaves. Love it!

My daughter the artist! These are all pieces of artwork Alexa did in elementary school. I think they are so cool and if she reads this she will be so embarrassed! So it's worth the post! When she was in Kindergarten or first grade she made a picture that Norm and I loved so much and thought was so good we had it framed. I couldn't get a good picture of it but it is also hanging in my room.

This is my Mom shelf. When Alexa was younger and would pick out presents for mother's day or my birthday, I took to clustering them together. She made the paint can, picked out the 'Donna' on wheels and the little stuffed animals. The movie clapboard was a gift to my Dad from me the year he 'starred' in his first movie, The Hudsucker Proxy. I've posted the picture many times here on my blog and on Facebook of him standing in his costume outside the door marked "Extras". It's hard to spot him in the film (he mostly ended up on the cutting floor), but I swear I see his nose in one shot! I'd know that nose anywhere!

Just more goodies from estate sales, an old wind up duck, spools, a chid's top and several Swedish horses. My Uncle Karl came from Sweden and my aunt always had them in her house. I started collecting them wherever I could find them. I have several sizes and colors. Love them!

Another phrase I live by. I do have what some would call a pessimistic bent to life, but really, I do look for the best and expect the best. I just want to remind myself that life is not perfect. It is not always fair and you don't always have control. You need to change what you can, accept what you can't and 'It is what it is' with the rest. As one of my stamps says, "Put your big girl panties on and deal with it..."

 Lastly, the ultimate goal in my crafting life.

I'm in the running for this and I won't be beat! Welcome to my stuff!