Snow Day

I love the look of freshly fallen snow - and falling snow.  It's so pristine, and gives the feeling of a new start, a clean slate.  I would like that - snow can fall on me and let me start all over, a new beginning.  

For some reason, I thought my daughters would actually behave well while we are in New York. To give you an example of just how wrong I can be,  my father told me tonight that the next time I visit I should come without them.  Of course, about half an hour later he told me that he didn't really mean that, he's just frustrated by their behavior.  Join the crowd!  Do you know how bad their behavior must have been for that thought to even occur to him?  

It would never have occurred to Ron or I, or any of my siblings, to do some of the things the girls do.  Mom used to say that it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission and the girls certainly live by that rule, especially Aubrey!  It's not so much the stuff they do without permission that gets to me as it is the things they do after having been expressly told not to do it.  Dad had an unopened bag of Hershey Kisses in the pantry. The girls were told, more than once, that they were not to touch the bag, not to open the bag, that the Kisses were not for them to eat.  What did Devon tell me first thing today when I came downstairs?  That she and Aubrey had eaten the entire bag of Hershey Kisses.  I don't get it.  Did they really think nothing would happen as a consequence?  Aubrey lost an outing with my father that she had been looking forward to for weeks, and both girls lost any and all candy for the rest of the day.  You may think that this is not a big deal, but it was the second Seder tonight and there is always a lot of dessert, especially candy trays, as part of the festive meal.  And they got not one piece. 

When Devon was first told this consequence, she ran upstairs and cried for quite a while.  Aubrey huffed, but I don't think she really believed I would remember and enforce that punishment.  And tonight, when she reached for a piece of candy, she was told in no uncertain terms to put it down.  Every time I think I may be making headway with their behavior, something else pops up and slaps me in the face to tell me no.  Devon got sent away from the table because she decided she wanted to try the cake Uncle Bennett had bought and just reached out and took a piece off my plate.  I swear, you would think neither one of them had ever been introduced to the concept of good manners. I remember seeing signs last year for an etiquette camp over the summer.  I am going to see if I can find that camp for them this summer.  If not, maybe there is a military camp available.

The weather tonight reminded me of our wedding weekend.  The day was so beautiful, 70 degrees and we woke up the next day to 13 inches of snow.  Today wasn't quite so extreme, I don't think it was sunny and warm at all today, but we still got snow tonight - and it's April 15th!  Kind of late for snow.  And we had buds on the lilac bushes I had really been looking forward to seeing bloom.  I think Devon got to ride her motorcycle for only a very short time today before the skies opened and it began to rain, a nice, cold, dreary rain.  Got to love that upstate New York weather!  

The girls were very excited about the snow tonight - especially that it stuck.  They actually had a brief snowball fight when we got home, before Daddy and Papa ordered them inside.  The people who live here, not so much excitement.  My sister's favorite part of the cold and snow tonight, I think, was that she got to try out my Dad's new remote starter for his car.  It is a nice feature - could be handy in Florida, too, for the summer.  I really hate when the car is crazy hot and you can't touch the steering wheel - and my glasses fog up when I get out of the car.  And they may be having snow here in upstate New York, but it's already getting warmer than we're happy with in Florida.  I doubt there's anywhere that really has perfect weather.  I always thought that was San Diego, but the rabbi at our synagogue is from that area and he said it's only perfect if you're on the water - once you head inland it gets miserable, just like everywhere else.  Oh, well.

So, I'm sitting at Dad's laptop and I look over and notice his mouse-pad.  I had gotten the idea from my sister, a photo mouse-pad....and this one is a picture of Aubrey and Devon.  Devon was probably 15-18 months old, making Aubrey 5ish.  They were so beautiful, so sweet......I really miss those days sometimes.  Somethings were harder, but somethings were just so much simpler.

I think my favorite thing so far this visit was seeing my brother, Bruce's office.  He works from home and has designed himself a really nice office, with a standing desk that works great, and Ron covets.  My favorite thing about his standing desk is the chair.  The oxymoron in that kills me.  He has a couple different stations, at different heights, and the layout is actually really impressive.  He does know how to do his research and he lived with a few iterations before this one came into being.  I'm glad he found something that he likes and that works - it's so easy to find solutions that don't work for you for one reason or another.  And I will cut him some slack, he said he rarely uses the chair ..... and to be completely honest, the chair was not at the desk when I got there - I pulled it closer to get my Kodak moment.  What can I say?

So, the girls may go swimming tomorrow at this indoor YMCA-type place they have nearby.  It's so cool - my Mom used to go a lot with my sister-in-law Cynthia - it's got a couple of really cool water slides and a lazy river (strong current, a lot of fun) as well as HUGE hot tub and zero entrance to the pool....if I let them go they'll have a blast.  Of course, that means I need to go shopping for a bathing suit for Devon because I didn't bring one with us.  Aubrey can borrow one from her cousin.  We may also get Aubrey's ears pierced again tomorrow afternoon.  She's been wanting a second hole in her ears for a while now....and it'd be a lot cheaper than some of the the other stuff she wants....  not at the top of her ears, that's gross, that bar that goes across....we're talking about a second hole right near the first holes in her ears.  I had two holes when I was younger and had pierced ears, so I have less of a problem with this than Ron does, I think.  And I do like the look of the two earrings, as well.

We let Aubrey have her phone back for this trip.  It's been good and bad.  The best part was when she and Devon were out on their bikes and got lost - she called and it was easy to direct them home.  And she's loving [1] having the camera to use and [2] being able to be in touch with friends.  We'll see if she gets to keep it when we get home.  She's been pretty good about it's use so far.

I have two least favorite things about this visit.   One if the girls' behavior, which I've already vented about.  The other is that I'm sick.  I feel lousy.  I even went to the doctor I feel so lousy.  Co-workers....be glad I am not at work this week!  Not strep although I wouldn't swear by it with how my throat feels.  And my nose runs like a faucet, but only once I get in bed.....so no sleep for me....which makes me grouchy and gives me a headache during the day.  Did I mention I haven't been feeling well?  And Passover is one of my least favorite holidays, I find the whole prep of it stressful...although we did, for some reason, very abbreviated seders this year, both nights and it definitely felt like something was lacking because of that.  What can I say?  It's not my favorite holiday but I still want it observed traditionally.....at least, according to the traditions that I grew up with!

So, we're halfway through this visit and it's going by fast and slow and will be over before we know it.  I'm still hoping to get one day that one of the girls doesn't tell me she wants to be home and not here.  I want them to be making good memories with my Dad and their cousins and aunts and uncles and I don't feel like this has been a good visit in that regard.  Maybe tomorrow we'll all start as fresh and clean as newly fallen snow.