Another meager Christmas to be grateful for!

The hub bub of the election is over and who knows what is going to happen! Wouldn't it be great if some of that loot the feds are handing out would "trickle down"? That's a real theory, right? Not sure if any of it ever trickled into my pocket! But I finally did get my $600 stimulus check today (okay, it did take a while for us to file our taxes so we can't blame that on the federal government). $600....what to do with it? Maybe pay the school taxes for Canada Lake???

Christmas is already going to be meager! My mother has been saying that since the mid fifties when families actually did have some money. Every year my sister reminds me of the meager Christmas that is coming up....and we laugh alot about it and then about a week later I receive a box with lots of treasures all wrapped beautifully sent from my sister. Nothing meager about loving!
So....rituals and traditions! They help us with transition according to an editorial in the NY Times on Sat. 12/6/08. (Hope the tradition of receiving the NY Times is still around next year at this time...but I digress)
Rituals and traditions!!! I didn't really think we had many in our family to mark the importance of holidays like Christmas, but then I remember the anticipation of the finding out what Santa left us under the Christmas tree, hidden under the big white sheet. I never really understood why Santa brought those white sheets to everyone's houses along with the bags of toys, etc...but who wants to know too much when you are four and five years old waiting for the big reveal! Voila...the sheet comes off and there are the brand new ice skates I prayed for...bargained for! And, the black patent leather Barbie case for my sister (she always made out better than me...probably a better bargainer)! And, then there were the stockings! We did open our stockings before my mom and dad got out of bed (were they having sex while we opened our stockings?...ooohhhh, I just thought of that)! I loved the stocking part! It was like Halloween all over again (my personal favorite in terms of holidays).... the trading, the comparing, the negotiating over the loot...and wondering why we would get tooth brushes in our stockings! So, I guess in hind sight we did have some little traditions and rituals around "getting stuff" and I am unsure if these memories help with transitions or not, but I found myself creating these same Christmas morning rituals with my own three children. Little did I know that one of them who shall remain nameless as hopefully she isn't fully cooked yet has taken it all a step further and is the self-appointed Queen of Christmas morning gift giving. Which really means "no sheet". She is the sheet! She gives out the presents one by one and demands that each of us pay attention while the other opens each present. It can go on for hours and as each minute passes, the other self-appointed King of the family expresses his annoyance at the amount of time it is taking to open yet another CD! And...the Queen expects the appropriate response to each exposed gift. It isn't enough to just admire the gift. There must be some demonstrative out pouring of appreciation...like jumping up and down..shouting accolades of all kinds. Meanwhile the head King is beside himself and we are getting closer to the climax of Christmas morning...the real Jerry Springer event! But that is another story for yet another day! So...be careful of what you pass along to your children! If rituals and traditions truly keep us connected, then search for something to share that has value and meaning and stay away from sheets and black patent leather Barbie doll cases. Or you can wait until you are a real grandma...and write the $12 check! That' what I am waiting for.

Joe the Plumber!

Joe the plumber, Julia the teacher, Lizzy the artist, Jim the junk man, nancy the banker, Pete the boatman, Joe the construction guy,
guy the trucker, blah, blah, blah....on and on.....no one likes taxes, but all of us have to recognize that we have a responsibility to create a community of shared responsibility. It can't always be about creating wealth for wealth's sake! It has to be about something with a higher vibration and for the greater good of all of us...and I mean all of us on the planet! What good does it do if only some of us benefit from the policies we create? We need to invest in all of the people of the world. That is the only way we will survive. So good job Martin for buying expensive drugs from someplace other than the $4 Walmart around the corner! And, I hope you don't take plastic bags home from grocery stores!!!!

My First!

I recommend that everyone take some time to reflect on their firsts. After all....my first dog was Bucky and he has had a lasting imprint on my existence on this planet. Who would think that an old ugly dog would have such importance in the lives of two adult women and countless children? Lizzy and I have identified outselves as the Bucky Starr Sisters....I have told sisters about Bucky and his office under the bushes outside Scott Brown's window....There are lots of other stories about Bucky so make sure to stay tuned. Some of the stories will help you understand how to take care of your pet in the most unassuming manner!
Anyway, back to the topic...the first going steady relationship! Remember, the going steady thing? It preceded the "we are talking" thing that my daughters tell me about. So, Billy Barrett. Billy Barrett...well, we didn't really go steady! He gave me a necklace with a little ball with a mustard seed inside. I was thrilled and mortified at the same time. Only a 7th grader can really relate to that state of mind (okay, I meant to say in the 50's and 60's) After that I gave it to a friend who promised me she would give it back to him. I couldn't even look at him although I had to face him at my school bus stop every morning. This had nothing to do with the fact that he was at least two feet shorter than me and about twenty pounds lighter. During this time, we happened to move across the street from the Barrett's. I begged my mother to have the bedroom that overlooked Billy's driveway. My love affair lasted about two weeks. My life was ruined. I was stuck looking at Billy's house....along with his brother Bobbie's fort....I ended up never speaking to him again. Not a good sign for future relationships.
I should have known better though because of my first "love" interest! Elwell...can't even remember his first name. He was pretty cute in a very sexy, naughty way which I had no way of figuring out. It was a very carnal experience....although we never even smooched! He gave me an ID bracelet with his name on it which is what guys did who wanted to be Elvis and didn't have a guitar. So, I took the bracelet, but was horrified! I didn't talk to him again and got someone to give it back to him. Not a good romance track record if you ask me.
High school was just a continuation of the same dramas started when I was still riding bikes, building forts, playing SPUD, and playing hide and seek with the neigborhood gangs in the shadows of the summer evenings.....life was simple, but the course was charted!

Early Childhood Education

We are desperate for reform in every arena. I wonder why no one seems to mention the cost to taxpayers for housing adult offenders who are incarerated!!! Imagine the possibilities if we really invested in our young children! In the county I live in, 65% of the children under the age of five years old are in the care of those other than their parents (okay...maybe a good thing for some kids)...but with that kind of information, we as a community ought to consider what is in the best interest of our children and our future. Children deserve better than what we have been able to provide! And, McCain's statements are incredible regarding Head Start. While I am not a big fan of the Head Start programs, let's face it! It's the best we've got! Head Start programs spend hours documenting (for accountability sake, what the benefits are of this program....outcomes! We are big on that. For anyone to even question the benefit of a Head Start program and/or universal preschool needs their heads examined. But then again, Sarah Palin happens to be an expert of children having special needs now that she has given birth to a child having Down's Syndrome!!! Come on! McCain kept referring to autism as if it is the same as a child having Down's Syndrome! Whoopsie...didn't work! The story line is set.....old guy with negative attacks that don't seem to work too well. Doesn't serve him well! Children and their families deserve better and our society needs us to do better! We have no choice.
Wouldn't it be great if we got a national leader who really does put children first and their politcal agenda second....or third....????

the cleaning lady

This one is for my cousin Martin who seems to have an unatural affinity for stories about Mrs. Samrov, my grandmother's cleaning lady. I admit most of the grandchildren....my generation, have a fond and tender affection for Mrs. Samrov. It was the way we got out of doing any dishes after those big Sunday dinners. Not to diminish the importance of Mrs. Samrov in our lives. But, w e learned pretty quickly....don't worry, Mrs. Samrov is coming (that is....to clean up) and she always did. My grandmother was onto something pretty good with that gig. She didn't live large by any measure, but when it came to efficiency she had it down. Why do housework, if you could get Mrs. Samrov to show up? And, by the way, for the historians in the crowd....her name use to be Mrs. Flansburg. I always thought that was a better name for the way she looked. I mean really...think about it...flansburg! What comes up on the screen? Red hair.....well kind of...a comb over that rivals anything the big Donald could come up with. I asked my sister about this and she had no memory of it. She must have "repressed cleaning lady syndrome". Mrs. Samrov or Flansburg...had the color hair you only see on Fourth Ave. in Tucson...Lucy Arnez would be green with envy.
Mrs. Samrov came to 116 First Ave. every Thursday except when grandma and grandpa went to the lake. Then they were on their own and who knows what Mrs. Samrov did> She probably went to Shermans on the weekend and spent her hard earned cash on the gypsy trying to get a good fortune. She always showed up on Thursday and grandma was sure to clear the schedule so that we didn't have any competing interest because Mrs. S. was coming. She arrived always at the back door with her brown bag lunch. After hoovering around all the downstairs room, dinner would happen in the formal dining room with grandma in her usual place at the head of the table in the shadow of the sea captain painting. No one said much. Mrs. Samrov sat across from me delicately eating her brown bag lunch. I never looked too hard at what was in the bag as it seemed an extreme violation of privacy. We quietly ate grandma's lunch....which in my life was really supper...but who would argue with grandma and the white damask table cloth. We never thought of having a quick bite to eat in the kitchen either. We just endured the dance of lunch with Mrs. Samrov!
I bet Mrs. Samrov would be pretty happy if she knew she was an icon in our family!!
One time I met a person who was the nanny for my mother and aunt. I didn't even know she had a nanny when she was young. I was pretty shocked. I imagined grandma taking care of my mother.....but then again! Maybe not! Since each of the three children were all sent away to prep school in a time when they didn't really have to do that. The kids weren't druggies....or problems....or potential presidents....or....country club wanna be's so don't really know why they were sent away except that grandma was busy sitting at the head of very controlled table...and Mrs. Samrov knew the drill!
Okay, Martin! There better be a post from you!

Did McCain Win?

Well, heck no! Maybe Barbie may still have a shot at the White House though if the tides turn! Imagine the parties she'll have with her neighbors from Russia! Probably she'll host wild game feeds only those from Bleeker and the Tea Room would envy! And maybe even pig roasts for foreign guests!
McCain spent lots of time taking notes, but one would wonder why since all he did was repeat the Bush mantras! He's gotta know all that stuff by heart now, so don't know why he was scribbling over there on the side. McCain ought to go back to Sedona and chill.
Obama was on his game....quick and awake with some specific ideas about how to deal with the craziness of today's world.
One wonders how some people make decisions about who ought to be a leader! What do they consider when making a selection? Well, better yet! Do they actually consider which would imply a period of reflection and some depth in thinking about issues....what does each person stand for...historically!!!! If they actually had some power to make changes....whose side would they be on and why?
I have the opportunity to meet and talk to lots of people each day and I hardly ever meet McCain supporters! So I am curious about where they are! They can't all live in the fly over states! or Arizona!
We aren't worried though! The Bucky Starr Sisters have their own plan in place if McCain or Barbie take office. The younger, smarter one is moving to Spain with her s. b. husband who probably doesn't want to take the other sister with them. So the older sister will probably move to Italy where she will eat, and love! She already did the praying part and it didn't really work out that well. She isn't going to hook up with an Italian though because she is planning to invite her pool boy to join her now and then after he finishes putting the docks in and taking them out at the lake AKA pool.

Sarah and Barbie

I was always a little jealous that my younger sister got to have a real Barbie doll with that special carrying black patent leather (real, I am sure) case, the high heels, the glasses, and those heavenly evening gowns! I was stuck with a Ginny doll, about half the size, no breasts and little tweed car coats and matching hats! The one good thing my sister did when she was too young to be held responsible, although, she has always been the brighter sister so I really do think she knew what she was doing...anyway, she washed my Ginny doll and all the hand made Catholic girl school clothes in airplane glue. Outwardly, I had to act enraged, but secretly I was glad to be rid of that goody two shoes doll. Maybe I would finally get a Barbie of my own. But my mother intervened. I was too old for a Barbie....really? In third grade??? I never really got over it until now! Now, I finally have a real live Barbie and I can see her everyday on the tube! She has glasses, and high heels, and breasts, well....three out of four isn't bad....missing the evening gowns! She probably does come in a little carrying case and those in charge can bring her out anytime there is a need for entertainment.

Mommy

Mommy loved coffee. She had to. That's what she did with Mrs. Greenwood. She was always going to have coffee with Doris. We didn't even question it. I always wondered how someone could drink that much coffee, but then I use to drink what was left in the bottom of the coffee cups after bridge club and it was just as good as any melted coffee ice cream I had ever had. And, another thing, my mother didn't really have anything else to do. She was kind of trapped in the neighborhood unless Mrs. Greenwood decided to drive us to Churchill Park to swim. That's a whole other story!
She did have a pretty good theory about putting out a mop bucket at the end of the day and propping the mop up in the bucket just before daddy came home. I never questioned the wisdom of this strategy as it seemed to work pretty well and the side benefit for us....lots of freedom.
I can never remember cleaning the house....nor did I ever see my mother clean the house. We didn't even have to make our beds. When I finally went to college and kids were doing laundry and dusting and all that stuff, I wondered when that happened at our house. Maybe it never did, but none of us seemed to mind.
My mother didn't have a car so she was stuck in the neighborhood--a neighborhood that consisted of two streets and Colby Circle...so go figure! It was a pretty damn small world. Not for me though! I spent hours in the nearby fields, down at Starr Pond skating and building camp fires, catching pollywogs, building forts, playing with pretend guns (we use to do that an no one freaked out). I would leave early in the morning and come home for a dry bologna sandwich with lots of frenches mustard (my mother didn't really cook either and we made our own breakfasts and lunches). Thank God for that because what she served for dinner was another adventure in avoidance.
For the first six grades of my school life I passed by Briarwood Market on the way to Lizzie Green School and lived off Twinkies and Licorice Honey Luden cough drops. They served me well, but I don't think Dr. L was too thrilled with the holes in my teeth. Although, I do believe he drilled holes in perfectly good teeth just to torture me and make a little more cash each week. Afterall, how much could those 2000 plastic charms in a box really cost him?
Someone once asked me how my mother got to the grocery store if we didn't have a second car. She did go to the Grand Uniion when daddy came home and she always took me. I loved the smell of fresh ground coffee and took time to run my hands through the grounds that had escaped the bags ladies took home. We never bought that though. My mother has always been an instant coffee drinker. I know that probably comes as a surprise! She was also partial to canned whole tomatores, raw carrots, and al dente, and I mean, al dente.....that would be heated to luke warm spaghetti. That was her number one favorite recipe. She would make this on a pretty regular basis, probably to keep up with the fantastic kitchen skills of Mrs. Greenwood. Well, it didn't really work that well. In case you want to try it for yourselves....heat up a big can of whole tomatoes to warm, add chopped carrots, and just a hint of oregano....serve over the before mentioned al dente spaghetti. She loved to tell us that spaghetti without the sauce wasn't healthy.
We survived because of Briarwood Market, school lunches, my dad's barbeques....and an occasionally begging at Mrs Sole's house.