My baby is the same age I was when I had him

27 years ago yesterday, I had my first child and I was 27.

I left home at 17 and never returned, but always knew my family was there if I needed them.

He left home at 15 to live with his dad, and I thought he would never return. His dad died five years ago and that brought him back to my home for the last four. At 27, I had been married five years and would only be married for another five, though I already knew it wouldn't last - we weren't a good match. My boy has had a casual girlfriend for the last three years, but he says they aren't a perfect match. He's had a couple of other serious girlfriends - and still talks to them on occassion. He's nowhere near ready to be married. I was eager to get back to work after having my baby - I had a great career started at AAF in DC with lots of travel and exciting events. My baby eagerly awaited the release of a new video game last night. He rarely leaves his room and has two computers set up to play the games. Sometimes the sound of the shooting shakes the walls of the house. His unemployment was extended - he's been out of work since January.

Now my dad is gone and I don't really have that feeling of safety anymore. I have to take care of my mom and I don't really want to be taking care of a kid. Time for my 27 year old to be a grown up.

Homecoming

Lindsay and her boyfriend only posed for a few minutes with us. Then they were on their way to dinner, ice cream, dance, afterparty. Here's my favorite shot.

Staying Home

This is the first weekend since Dad's gone that I haven't spent at Mom's. She was supposed to come to visit us but instead will only come for a couple of hours Saturday to see niece Lindsay in her homecoming glam. We love taking those girlie pictures after suffering through all the boys and their black tuxes. And our Lindsay is a stunner so it will be fun.


So Friday I went with my Sandys to a little expo with makeup and massages and jewelry and purses. I had to buy this one. It just called to me!

Then on to Fintini's for a pop. My second Sandy went nuts over the band's cover of Jethro Tull's Locomotive Breath. Now, I remember the chorus from the days of my youth.... "you know it won't slow down..." But I'll be damned if I knew it was about trains. Isn't it?

Two months ago my plans were to be in Texas today for a four day weekend and sister Karen's 50th birthday. Couldn't do it with all the time I was off for the funeral and mom's affairs. Let's hope her family treated her like a queen!

Feeling Blue

Why is that just when you think you're really rolling, have everything under control - SLAM - you're stopped in your tracks and - SLAP - it hits you right in the face that everything is in chaos. The house is a mess; work is screwed up; nothing to wear to the early morning meeting because clothes are in a pile waiting to go to the cleaners instead of hanging neat in the closet waiting to be worn.

Bad hair and a giant pimple always seem to show up at the same time. If you wear glasses too, well, you know what they say about glasses and passes.

Last week during the dad crisis, I was a rock. Today, I'm a wreck. It's cold and rainy too. So -- I'm going to eat Cocoa Puffs in hot milk wearing bright green sweat pants, big socks, turn on the gas fireplace and watch crap TV. I have ice cream if that's not enough chocolate. Pray for my blood sugar.

Missing my Daddy

Who takes pictures at a funeral? My family. Last Sunday night at 11:30 pm my mom called to tell me my dad had collapsed and the EMTs were with her at their condo. He had played golf all day, enjoyed dinner with friends, entertained the group with his napkin tricks, home at 9:30 and gone in an hour. He was only 79 but had a great wild of a life. http://www.gramerfuneralhome.com/html/obits/obituaries.asp?listing_id=115932

We spent Monday making arrangements, Tuesday greeting more than 700 people at the visitation; and held the service and wake on Wednesday. Here's what my sister Nancy wrote to the family on Friday:

The funeral was wonderful. My sister Jan, Leroy Hocking, Larry Ode, Mike Tow, Ken Muxlow, and Uncle Robert, all made us laugh and cry with the stories they shared about our dad.

I'm still crying writing this because I loved my dad so much.

There were around 210 people at his funeral and 55 cars in the funeral procession. A motorcycle escort of friends and Shriners followed the hearse. We beeped our horns as we passed URP.

I took pictures at the cemetary because it will be so hard to picture in our minds years from now, and I want to remember. I want to remember everything about my dad. Well, almost everything!!

The pictures you see with mom standing behind the casket are with the grandchildren, every one of whom was hit hard by their papa leaving.

Those of you who knew Jim and his goofy jokes will understand that at his wake we had to do napkin tricks, balance spoons on our noses, and the really talented ones could balance spoons on their noses and put creamers in their eyes both at the same time!

If any of you have any digital pictures of our dad you'd like to email to the rest of us, we'd love to have them. Please forward these on to those people who would like to see them.

Thank you all so much for your love for my dad.
Nancy

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=81sacaq.cdf6op5u&x=0&h=1&y=-tk2l8w&localeid=en_US

Live From New York

They did not disappoint! Amy Poehler and Tina Fey as Clinton and Palin hit it spot on. Oddly, I'm more proud of the comics than I am of the women running for national office.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/34465/saturday-night-live-palin--hillary-open

Confessions of an MOG - the retrospective

Here's the dress I wore to the wedding. I think it looked pretty good and I liked my hair too. My family is all behind me: dad, mom, Karen, Tony, Ryan and Kevin. The high school was a great place for the wedding. The staff did a nice job setting up the chairs so everyone could see. We covered the risers in white paper, and the windows behind them in white muslim. The arch turned out pretty well too.