Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, Finley Ray, Friends, tagged Family, Finley, Finley Ray, Finny, Florida, Gigi, Grandparent, Grandparents Day, Gulf Stream, Papa Pete, valentine day on February 14, 2014| 4 Comments »
I really wish I could have been in Florida today, not because it’s cold here but because today was Grandparents Day at Finley’s school. The kids dictated notes to their grandparents which were then typed by their teacher. The letters were read aloud in class today. I am so, so, happy to have received this video today of all days!
This is the BEST Valentine ever! Finley Ray has my heart, there’s no denying it.
Finley Ray
Posted in BY THE WAY, Finley Ray, Frankie, tagged Christmas morning, Finley, Finny, Francesca, Frankie on December 31, 2013| 3 Comments »
Posted in BY THE WAY, Finley Ray, Frankie, Friends, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged Business, Chiara, Dunkin Donuts, Finley, Francesca, Jet Blue, JetBlue Airways, Minnie Mouse, Starbucks, Suitcase, Tom on October 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »
That’s right, it’s over. I had such a delightful time while staying with Chiara and Tom and the two girls; I wish I could have spent more time with Finley which is what they expect me to say. However, I spent considerable time with Francesca; We read, we drove to school, we looked at 245 Halloween photos three times. I made her a rubber band bracelet, dressed her, undressed her and brushed her teeth and hair. We had several chats about this and that and silly questions were answered and I have been trying all day to remember what some of her destinations and professions were for “This little piggy…”, because they were clever!
I had to blow a kiss goodbye to Chiara because she was in bed and insulated with baby on her left and a crib and cat on her legs. Last night was a rough night for Mommy, Fletcher did not want to go to sleep! It might have been the birthday cake!
I left Tia in charge and headed off to the airport with Tom and the girls. Good thing I packed last night! We made it to the airport in good time; Tom had checked me in last night. I mentioned that maybe I would check my bag outside but Tom quickly dissuaded me with the tale of Chiara’s missing sunglasses. When we got to the airport, I noticed Tom was heading towards Terminal A to drop me off – No, he was going to premium parking and he and the girls were going to walk in with me. Everybody out and we are in a part of the airport, I’ve never seen. We’re headed up the escalator to the concourse level and Tom asks me if I just have these two bags? Two bags? NOOoooo, I have 3 bags, where’s my computer? In the car….YIKES! Tom says, “no worry, I’ll get it”. He directs me to turn left at the top of stairs and head to what I think is going to be the Jet Blue counter.
I have a suitcase, handbag and two little girls in tow and walking and walking and walking. Francesca is distracted by the gift shop that is selling Minnie Mouse dolls and the fountain with the Lion’s head spouting water. I am wondering why I’m passing restaurants and stores in an area where the check-in counters are? The answer is you are NOT in the area where the check-in counter are, you are now at security. I only have to wait a few minutes before Tom shows up with my computer bag. I tell him that we’re at security and I wanted to check my bag in. He says, “Why, you can take this one onboard”. “I can’t because then I have 3 bags and I can only get with two”. Tom: “They won’t care”. Lori: “Yes they will, they are very strict about this”. So Tom says: “Well put one of those bags into the suitcase”. So typical of a man, just solve the immediate problem. I’m concerned my glasses will be crushed as he jams my handbag into the suitcase. It’s getting hot in the airport or I’m getting stressed and sweating. I think it was the latter.
I wend my way through the zig zag maze of stanchions and black tape up to the first checkpoint, dropping my scarf along the way (thank you sir). As soon as I get to the counter I realize I don’t have my photo ID. It is in the g__d purse which is in the suitcase. Flushed with stupid embarrassment, I tell the Officer that I forgot it’s in my handbag in my suitcase. I plop the suitcase down on the floor and fumble with which end the zipper pull is at since it is one of those which open at either end! The lady behind was NOT happy. The gods must have been smiling down on me because I was able to unzip, reach into the handbag and actually put my hand on the case with my license. Check! Next, off with the shoes, put the computer in one bin, the case in another with my scarf, and shove the suitcase up onto the conveyer belt. I have to tell you I DO NOT LIKE putting the computer through the scanner and then finding out there is only ONE line going through the body scanner. I am straining to lean over and keep an eye my stuff, “Please raise your arms over your head”! I step out and am about to go over to pick up my computer when one of the TSA people say, “Excuse I have to pat down your shoulders, please put your arms straight out”. My shoulders? I don’t even had shoulder pads on!
When you’re already stressed and sweating you can rest assured that the Gate you’re supposed to go will be the farthest one away, the last one in the concourse and of course mine was! Did you know that the Starbucks in the West Palm airport does not carry those very important green picks? The ones that protect your hand from being burned by hot coffee as it bounces out thru the sip top while you are walking the mile and half to your gate? Yes it’s true.
Aha there was an upside to this long walk. I figured out way to get my suitcase checked in. The seating area was filled and there was no one at the Jet Blue counter BUT there was a man at the entrance of the jetway and I marched right up to him and threw my son-in-law under the bus – Sorry Tom I had to do it. I told the man that my son-in-law thought we were late so he got us to the concourse instead of check in to save time but I really didn’t want to carry on this suitcase, can you help me (big smile)? Of course he could and probably would have done so even without my fabrication. Again, sorry Tom!
Finally at the door to the plane and what do I see but this very tall man dressed in a ground personnel uniform standing there with my suitcase. I ask him if that bag is going to be checked and he asks me if it is my bag? I say yes and he tells me I can take it onboard if I wish – NO I do not wish! THEN he asks me what I have in the cup and immediately I wonder if one is not allowed to bring coffee onboard. I look a little startled and say: “Coffee” – he smiles and says: “You could have gotten Dunkin’ Donuts coffee onboard and for free”. Music to your ears, Tom?
Dunkin Donuts logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Posted in BY THE WAY, Finley Ray, Frankie, Friends, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged Chiara, Finley, Fletch, Francesca, Halloween, Home, Joel, Justin, Ocean Club, Pasha, Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, Sports, surf, Surfboard, Tia on October 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »
From the title of this blog you might not think that things are winding down, but today it does seem like they are. Of course not having to start the day with the hectic madness of school clothes, hair brushing, breakfast and off to school, does make a difference. When I went to bed last night which was REALLY early for me, I was looking forward to sleeping in this morning. First of all , I figured the girls would sleep late because we didn’t return from the Ocean Club till about 9:00pm.
Last night we went to a Friday night buffet and pool party. The kids had a blast jumping in and out and swimming and jumping off the diving board. I wish I could have taken a picture of Francesca jumping off the diving board. Unbelievable! And this was not one of those diving boards that you step onto, this was one you had to climb up to. I have never seen a child that small actually jump off a diving board and she didn’t even hold her nose. Anyway, the party was a throwback in time for me. OMG it was retro to the old GCA; Golf Club of Avon. Even the characters were the same. We sat under the stars and brightly lit half moon that just hung in the sky over us all. The weather was warm, the drinks were cold and the food was plentiful. So familiar…even Chiara said, “I’m living your life all over again”.
So I didn’t think it was too far-fetched to think that after hours of swimming and eating (a lot of sugar), those kids would sleep late and so would I. And that Daddy was home so he would entertain them in the morning. At 7:20am Francesca came into my room. She climbed up to be with me, but not for long because the purpose of her visit was really to get me out of bed and into the living room where Daddy was laying down on the couch to watch cartoons with them. I saw that there was little to no chance of me remaining in bed so I got up. Tom proposed we go out to breakfast and then pick up Tia who was arriving this morning. I didn’t think we had that much time; Tom thought she was arriving at 10:30 but I knew it was 9:30. So Tom and girls headed out to the airport and I stayed behind to make Chiara a really good breakfast, something she has been sort of skimping on this week due to Fletch’s feeding schedule. I’m going to post the recipe which came from Confessions of a Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond‘s famous blog.
We spent the afternoon at the Ocean Club, hence the SUN and SAND which was plentiful. Lunch at poolside and once again I was taken back in time to Avon. The kids spent time in the pool and then we went to the ocean. The sun was glorious, Tom signed up for a surf board and Finley and two friends spent 2 hours getting up and falling off the board! Finley did stay up long enough to float into shore – Uncle Joel and Uncle Justin take note! SURFERS in the making. We wound up the afternoon at the pool with a SANGRIA Blanco, NICE!
Tonight we are going to have a mini-birthday party for Francesca who turns 3 on Tuesday. Since I’m leaving tomorrow, Chiara decided we could celebrate with dinner and invited her best friend who has 2 children fairly close in age to Finley and Francesca and so we had 4 kids plus Fletcher and 6 adults (you can get the picture). The kids had pizza and we had SALMON! And cake of course! Francesca had a ball opening gifts. It wasn’t the gift that actually seemed to thrill her but rather the opening of the gift. We had to hold off the older kids who so desperately wanted to help her. Several threats of no dessert, a time out and the possibility of going to bed NOW were all invoked to keep the other 3 away from the presents. Tia came through for them all; She had assembled Halloween goodie bags for all 4 kids which amused them and held their attention for all of 2 minutes.
Well as you can see, things really have wound down. There wasn’t any high drama today, there wasn’t anything too unusual going on around here, it was simply SATURDAY! There was a very funny moment this evening when Chiara was discussing with Tom what Halloween costume would they wear when they went to a party with the theme: Enchanted Halloween. Ki has been online searching for appropriate attire and came up with a fairy-like outfit adorned with leaves. Since they want to match somewhat, what does that leave (no pun intended) Tom to dress as? The suggestion of stump came up but that was quickly withdrawn. Chiara found a sort of shawl and hat that looked medieval and after ALL of the laughter died down, we all began firing out suggestions; Maybe he could be a wizard, or a gnome or The Grim Reaper which put Chiara into hysterics, not to mention Tom who was more hysterical at the thought! How about a Leprechaun?
Pasha was quite evident tonight. Wherever Mommy went or the baby, Pasha was soon to follow. Did you know that in Egypt Siamese cats were used to guard the throne of the King of Siam? Pasha stands watch over our Prince.
Pasha Guards Fletcher
Mommy, baby Fletch and Pasha
It’s a wrap tomorrow morning! I’m flying home, Peter will pick me up in Newark and we’ll head down to the shore. LIfe just won’t be as exciting or as interesting to read about as it has been these past few days! Oh well….
Posted in BY THE WAY, Finley Ray, Frankie, Friends, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged Atlantic Avenue, Belle, Chiara, Finley, Global Positioning System, South Africa, Starbucks, Table Mountain on October 11, 2013| Leave a Comment »
I thought my 5 hour walk down Table Mountain in South Africa was one of the greatest feats of my life. Truly, it was an amazing experience fraught with anticipation, anxiety, fear, determination and adrenaline. I’ve just had my second life-altering experience.
Let me just fill in a few back-story details because I do believe lack of sleep exacerbates every other emotion. I woke up at 5:50am – God only knows why? And then I couldn’t fall back to sleep…I knew I had to get up around 7am to make sure the girls got up, brushed their teeth and got dressed and fed. Well sometime around 6:45am I heard screams! I also heard heavy footsteps above me so I didn’t jump up. Regardless, the idea of a 10 minute doze was out of the question. Turns out Finley decided to lock Francesca in the room. Of course, she screamed, poor thing!
I’m up and not in a good mood at all, tolerance level way below normal so any long-winded whiney discussion about hair bows or outfits was going to be cut short. Finally with everyone fed and ready to roll, we left for school drop-offs and Belle came with me. First bit of drama was that usually on Fridays, Finley wears her dress uniform and we see lots of girls going into school wearing dresses (and you know how much Finley likes to dress up) and Belle is saying “uh oh” because she thinks we made a mistake. NOT – Finley already had a dress-up day this week when she went to the museum. Dropped Frankie off, no problem.
Image by None via CrunchBase
I’m off to Starbucks to get coffee for Chiara and me. God, do I need caffeine! Note: Since I’ve been here I’ve had to up my intake – It’s no longer Grandé Americano with a light splash of steamed brevi – NO, it’ Venti now! I turn to the GPS so Siri my new best friend can direct me to Starbucks but Siri is silent! Yesterday Chiara turned off the voice prompts and I can’t figure out to get them back on. Ok, so I’ll try to follow the map which might require taking glasses on and off which is never a good thing when you’re driving. I look to punch in the Starbucks location which Tom had programmed for me and that’s gone too! Yikes! Belle assures (as best she can in a language I don’t understand) that there is no problemo. Really?
Belle is directing me where to turn and when to go straight and I mention to her that this is not the way Tom and I went to Starbucks. Again, no problemo. She says in English, “Atlantic Avenue”. OH NO! I know Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach. It is the main commercial thoroughfare. Yes there is a Starbucks there BUT where do you think I can park the car? Again, no problemo. I look at Belle and with hand gestures and some Spanglish I inform her that of course it’s no problem for Belle, Belle is NOT driving! Sure enough we get there and she points to a parking space and I shudder no. I head for a parking lot that I know is down the street and I don’t mind walking and remember that Chiara parked there once. However, I see the sign as I pull in that clearly states this a RESERVED ONLY parking lot and ALL OTHERS WILL BE TOWED. Naturally, being half-German, I turn around and leave, I’m not parking there.
We are now headed back to the Starbucks we passed and sure enough, there is a parking spot just near the store. It’s a PARALLEL PARKING spot! “Si, si, ” Belle points to the spot. Are you f________g kidding me? I’m not going to park there!!!! Apparently I am 😦 – I have no choice but to bite the bullet so to speak. This is a horror; there is a car in front of and behind the spot. 17 ‘ long 7’ wide and sitting up a mile high on the opposite side of the car from the curb. I try to back in and end up parallel but about 4′ from the curb. I see in the rear view mirror that the car behind me is going to pull out. I just sit there. He just sits there. He is waiting for me to pull out, I’m waiting for him to pull out. I look in my rear-view mirror and he’s staring at me. Finally, he pulls out and stops alongside to give me a dirty look. I don’t care, I’m so happy he moved; Now I gingerly move the car backwards trying to trust the electronic back-up guide and not my instinct which is to look over my shoulder. Actually you have to both but the latter is so hard to do considering the car has 3 rows of seats! I’m pretty sure I’ve backed in close enough to the curb and not hit the tree so I pull forward and stop. BREATHE, I’m exhausted and literally a bit shaky. Starbucks here I come, I need the caffeine to calm me down, the parking was enough of an adrenaline boost!
I don’t think it was my imagination but there were a couple of men sitting at table outside of Starbucks and they all looked at me when I walked past them and into the store. No, NOT that kind of look; more like why is this lady driving a car she can’t park and why is someone this old driving a Tahoe??
Posted in BY THE WAY, Finley Ray, Frankie, Friends, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged Barbados, Chiara, clinic, Dora the Explorer, Eagles, Finley, Finny, Florida, Francesca, Frankie, New York City, urgent care on March 30, 2013| 4 Comments »
I’m writing this as fast as I can BEFORE the pain-killing lidocaine numbing effect on my left foot wears off!!!! Sometimes I like to give you the climax of the story right up front…to get your attention kind of like baiting the hook.
And of course there’s more to the story.
This day actually started last night when I called Chiara’s neighbor, Christina to confirm what time she was going to pick up Finley to go to gymnastics camp. OHhhhh didn’t I mention that I was in Florida? Well, if you’ve been following this blog, you know that no trip to Florida goes unscathed, so to speak. So…back to the phone call. Before Ms Organization left for a mini-vacation on a friend’s 4 bedroom yacht in Barbados (oh yes she lives well), Chiara wrote out the kids daily schedule. The calendar said, camp was from 9am-12pm, and if I wanted she could stay for the afternoon session, 2pm-3pm. Christina said camp began at 8:30am and Matte was driving. So then I called Matte to ask her at what time should I have Finley ready. Matte said 8:45am and she would bring Finley back at 12:30.
I was picking up stray puzzle pieces and random markers in the kitchen when all of sudden I felt this stab in my foot. Damn, I had stepped on something. It felt sharp but then almost anything you step on feels sharper and larger than what it turn out to be. I tried to look at my foot but a)they were dirty from walking barefoot all day inside and out, and I didn’t have my glasses on. Peering closer, I could discern as spot and what looked like a tiny piece of skin. I thought it was like one of those cuts you can sometime get on the sole of your foot where the part that hurts is the little flap of tissue so I yanked it off. Now my foot hurt because it had a little tiny opening in it, so I put some neosporin on it and a Dora the Explorer band-aid. Two hours later it still really hurt when I walked on it.
When we got into bed, I told Peter about the incident (he had been out at the time) and said the damn thing hurt much more than it should given what I thought it was. He looked closely (and yes I did wash my feet before getting into bed) and said, “You have a piece of glass in your foot”. Forty-five minutes later I called off Peter’s intense mission to remove the sliver. He denies it, but part of him was loving the task of trying to figure out how to extricate the shard. Tomorrow is another day, maybe in the morning it will be easier. Oh WRONGGG!
It hurt a lot going down the stairs and I was hobbling in the kitchen trying to get Finley fed, Francesca fed and Finny out the door. I asked Peter to get me a ponytail rubber band for Finley’s hair -it was upstairs in the top drawer in the kids bathroom. He returned with a length of orange ribbon. Muttering several four letter words and poly-syllabic names at him, I went upstairs, opened the drawer, saw two little sating top boxes, opened one, took out the colored band and limped down the stairs, cursing all the way.
After Finley left for camp, Peter thought we should try again to get the glass out of my foot and to do so we should be in the bright sunshine. Francesca, Pete and I went in the backyard and sat down. During the night, a brainstorm came to him, he would use a razor to slice the skin and sort of release the sliver so it could be easily pulled out. I wasn’t exactly enamored with this idea and for the last half hour kept saying that I was going to go to a Walk-in Docs and see if they could do it. Well I let him make several attempts to grab the piece but I know that tweezers cant’t really hold the grasp on a piece of glass. After a couple of OMG’s and Owwwwwws, I knew this wasn’t going to work at all and went in the house where I immediately opened up my computer and went online to find a Walk-In Urgent Care facility. I called, checked if they took Medicare (who am I kidding, this IS Florida) and said I would be in shortly.
Leaving the house with Frankie requires several things; she has to get dressed, she has to wear shoes, we have to pick out at least 3 books and we have to pack a snack to take along. We are headed to Dr.G’s Urgent Care; Peter is convinced we will spend hours there waiting to be taken I’m convinced I’ll be in and out because after all it is only a sliver. Turns out we were both right.
After filling out 5 pages of forms and signing my name at least 7 times and giving them my Medicare card and my Master card, because apparently this is a pay first before you get treatment place. I thought that was a little strange, I mean after all, even doctors in New York City don’t make you pay before they treat you. But then again, this IS Florida and just maybe do you think they’re afraid the patient might expire before the bill was paid if it was sent in the mail?
In I go to Room #4 where soon a person comes in to ask me what medications I take – the fact that he asked me how to spell two of them was a little disconcerting. Then he takes my blood pressure, my temperature and my pulse rate AND then he says I need to have an X-Ray. “An X-Ray”!?, I say, “I have a sliver, I can see it on my foot”. With that he walks out. I sit and wait (we have been here at least 45 minutes). In walks a woman (not quite dressed like a doctor). She asks me some redundant questions and announces I MUST have an X-Ray pre and post because there is a foreign body in my body, and she leaves. I sit and wait. Along comes Ben who brings me a wheelchair and takes me to X-Ray. Three pictures of my foot and I am back in Room #4. Ben returns with a basin filled with brown liquid which I believe to be part Benzocaine, because I need to soak my foot and soften it up. Then he realizes that Room #4 is too small so back into the wheelchair and he deposits me in Room #2 and I soak my foot.
Tracey (the non-doctor, she is a PA) arrives shortly thereafter and wants to know how did I get the glass in my foot, how long has it been in and she’s seen the X-Ray and the sliver is really in there!!!! I tell her how my husband wanted to try to slice open my foot and release the sliver and I shudder – She says, “How do you think I’m going to do it? I have a scalpel”. After swallowing hard, I say, “But at least you’re going to make sure it doesn’t hurt”. And then Tracey, aka Nurse Rachet, produces a hypodermic syringe and says,”You’ll feel a little pinch” and proceeds to stab my foot. I SCREAMED! Yes, I SCREAMED,” OWWWWwwww, oh my God”! Tears sprang to my eyes and I jerked my foot away. This totally annoyed Tracey who asked me if I wanted her to slice open my foot without anesthetic? I hesitated because there was no way I could imagine allowing her to jab me again and push in some burning liquid which I think was pure lidocaine. She sat, needle in hand, awaiting my answer. I said OK but and before I got any other words out the needle was in but this time it was only a pinch. My interruption of the procedure had allowed some numbing take place so the second jab was only a pinch. Thank God!!!
She has an array of tools beside her; scalpel, several tweezer and other pointy things. She asks me if I feel that and I say no. The next thing I know she is yelling for Brian to come in and bring her an Eppi – an Eppi? That sounds familiar, thank you Grey’s Anatomy. She can’t believe how much blood is coming out of my foot and wants to know if I’m on blood thinners or aspirin. NO, I’m not. She can’t see the glass because of the blood and the Eppi will stop it and sure enough it does. More probing and finally a tiny piece of glass comes out. Time for a post X-Ray. She bandages my foot and I’m back in the wheelchair with Ben and off for two more pictures.
BAD NEWS! Tracey says there is still a good size piece in my foot. She asks for another lidocaine/eppi syringe. Brian questions the combination but she says she thinks it works better that way. I am sitting in this chair worrying about the time because by now it is 12:30 and Finley was going to be dropped off at home. Luckily with some measure of aforethought, I called Christina (because Matte didn’t pick up her phone) earlier and asked her if she could get a hold of Matte and ask her to keep Finley if I wasn’t back from the clinic. By now, Tracey is calling for help to hold open the incision (OMG!) so she can see better into the tunnel where she believes the rest of the glass is. Now she’s asking for saline and a syringe because she thinks she can flush it out. After a while and she is convinced she got another piece, she calls for Ben to take another set of X-Rays of the foot to make sure she got it all. Back in the chair and same old, same old all over again. It’s now after 1pm and I’m very concerned about both Finny who is with Matte who might have had plans for her own family and Francesca who has been out in the waiting room for over an hour. I ask one of the nurses to go ask my husband for my cell phone and glasses. What comes back to me is my cell phone and my sun glasses! OY VEY. I thought I might have Matte’s telephone number on my cell but I don’t so I did what I had to do and called Chiara in Barbados on the 4 BR yacht – did I mention she lives well? I explain to her where I am and why and she should call Matte and hope Finley can stay there till I return. Things are getting worse…
I’ve been wheeled back to Room #2 to await the development of the X-Rays number 6 and 7. I can hear them talking in the hallway and as I hear Tracey say to Ben, “How can that be? Well at least it’s less than it was”. My heart sank, I knew what was coming. Sure enough, she’s back and giving me a song and dance about how she was sure she got another piece out, BUT the X-Ray showed that there was still a piece in my foot. Oh dear Lord…
At this point since she is now saying what she really needs is yet another pair of hands to hold open the incision and she is going in again, I ask her if the numbing is still in effect and just to make sure, she calls for another lidocaine/eppi cocktail. Now there is serious flushing going on and another person with tweezers says she doesn’t feel anything (and thank God I’m not feeling anything either). Perhaps the tiny piece is in the third bloody basin. Encouragingly, Tracey announces that it looks like someone committed Hari-Cari in here! Geez did that ever make me feel good!!!! She calls for another set of X-Rays. Ben and I make our trip to the X-Ray room again where I put my foot on the table for numbers 8 and 9. Really I will probably glow in the dark tonight. It’s pushing 3:00 and now that I have my phone I call Peter in the waiting room and suggest he take Frankie to MacDonald’s. He’s resistant and I’m not sure why he is suggesting home but after about a minute of back and forth I give my usual blessing which goes like this: “Do whatever the f__k you want to do” and hang up.
I sit in Room #2 and wait and wait but I have lost all hope of ever leaving this place alive or at least in one piece. Again I hear voices in the hallway and what I’m hearing only confirms that things are getting worse. Tracey returns with a cadre of helpers and with the determination of General Custer decides to make another charge at the foot. Although she’s convinced she actually got a piece and it is floating in the kidney-shaped basin, her two cohorts feel otherwise. I thought it a good idea to remind her that glass doesn’t float and when one of them said that what she saw was tissue, I began to think about making out a will.
Nothing convinces Tracey like an X-Ray so she tells Ben to take another just to confirm that she got the piece. Are you beginning to see a pattern here? Meantime Chiara calls me while I’m in the torture chamber and tells me not to worry about Finley, she’s fine and can stay as long as it takes. X-Ray number 10 is taken, this time only one because Ben the technician has decided to defy the boss because he thinks I’ve probably had enough radiation for one day, ya think???
Number 10 like all the other preceding it confirmed that STILL the sliver of glass remained intact and inside. Tracey came in and threw up her hands and said,”I’m done”. Mmmmmm here I am with an open bleeding incision, a piece of glass in my heel still, a 4 yr old in the care of others, a 2yr old and a husband wandering around Boynton Beach looking for a MacDonald’s and it’s after 3pm and SHE’s giving up??!!! They left the room and left me sitting there wondering if someone would come back to bandage up my foot so I could…what? leave?
And then, she came back. Tracey had decided to call in the big guns to do battle with the glass sliver. She informed me that the “Doctor” was on the way, be here in 5 minutes. Of course the 5 minutes was actually about 15 minutes before the “doctor” walked in. She was given a briefing on the various procedures that failed to remove the splinter, she looked at the X-Rays and turned to Tracey and said, “You never cut deep enough”. OMG not deep enough? She smiled at me and said I’m going to numb your foot and see what I can see. Oh and she also handed me the big lie, “you’ll feel a pinch”. Of course I felt nothing because my foot had already been shot up a few times. She noticed that I didn’t scream or anything and since she knew the “pinch” was a BIG lie, she asked me if I felt the needle and I smiled and said “No” and added words to the effect that had this foot not been numb I would have been hitting my head on the ceiling about now. Tracey concurred that the original “pinch” had produced a howling OWwww.
Doctor orders her instruments of torture, a syringe, saline, tweezers, and mercifully no scalpel because she did think perhaps the cutting was deep enough after all. She squeezed enough saline in that hole in my foot that I began to wonder where does that all go? Some comes out of course and blood-red but…….? Doctor made an executive decision and said that the sliver was too small to feel in there so best solution would be to see a podiatrist who could use a fluoroscope to see where he should probe while he was actually probing. Of course I was NEVER again going to allow a syringe of lidocaine to be jabbed into my foot, but they didn’t know that. I said I was going home on Monday and had my own podiatrist. BUT just to make sure the sliver really was still there, I should have another X-Ray! Can you believe this? Even Ben was getting anxious about the number of X-Rays he had administered to me that day. When I was in the room with him (and by the way I’m still wheelchair bound) he told me to wait and he would develop it right away and I could see for myself – and sure enough there it was, lodged into my heel and holding on for dear life.
Doctor said to give me the first and last X-Rays to take and strongly insisted that I take antibiotics and anti-inflammatory/pain killers. OK I agreed, anything to get out of there as it was now 4pm! And it’s possible that the body will reject the foreign body in due time, I was told. Umm I wonder what due time really means? I made some remark about the 4+ hours I had been there and Doctor, who turned out to be Dr. G’s daughter was clearly disturbed and annoyed. She had already chastised Tracey for using too much of the special tape, for wasting a needle, and she told Brian he had wasted a syringe by opening it up to contamination before giving it to her and also said something about the number of basins that had been used! Clearly business and not medicine was the first priority here.
By the time I got the prescriptions – You HAD to know that Dr. G also ran a pharmacy? You’re not surprised, are you? I wasn’t but oh well the prices didn’t seem to out of line but what do I know, I’m hobbling again and have an Ace bandage wrapped around my foot and a piece of glass in my heel. I was so shaken at this point that as soon as I got in the car, I started to cry and don’t you know within 30 seconds Chiara called (from the yacht in Barbados in case you forgot). She already knew about the glass but didn’t know why I was crying! Really?? Seriously??
Now while all this was happening to me, Francesca and Papa Pete spent 4 hours of quality time together! She never cried, she was happy to have him all to herself and she amused herself to no end.
This was one strange day and NOT so Good Friday!
A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words
Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, BY THE WAY, Finley Ray, Frankie, Friends, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged Chiara, Delta, Finley, flight attendants, Francesca, Frankie, Mickey Mouse, New York City, Starbucks, Target, Venti on January 17, 2013| 1 Comment »
Well it’s finally here; Tuesday the 15th and I’m going home today. Back to New York City, back to my husband who I have missed and back to my two cats who I hope have missed me.
Finley goes off to school and Francesca and I have breakfast and I decide to give this blasted kitchen floor one more washing to see if I can get it really clean. I did and it didn’t. I think Chiara is right, she has to get the floor steam-cleaned or try a scrub brush because the swifter dry-wet combo hasn’t worked and neither has a sponge mop.
Chiara returned and said, let’s get ready to go to the store; We have to return the lamp for the toy room which was broken and I’m sure as we stroll through the aisles of Target, any number of things will jump in the cart. I’m looking forward to Target’s because Starbucks is there and this seems like a Venti morning for sure. I have been packing up my stuff since yesterday and now I’m just about done. It’s been a lugubrious task 😦
It’s really lovely and sunny today as it has been for the last week and I’m sure I will miss the weather. Target was a bit empty but then again how can you really have any idea how many people are in a store the size of a football field? Today it was less than 20 minutes before Frankie moved from buckled to un-buckled and in the basket to out of the basket. She’s getting really good at this! She enjoyed the Bath an dBedding department because we saw Mickey Mouse towels and a Spider Man drinking cup and toothbrush holder. Chiara is a feminist, there are three females and only one male in the house, well two if you count Pasha but he is neutered after all. So what is the first thing Francesca says when she sees the Spider Man stuff? “That’s boy’s”? Yes she did and she often ends her phrases and sentences with a questioning rise in her tone. Very cute!
She managed to try on at least 5 pairs of shoes on her own in the shoe department and pointed out the gender of a lot of toys while she and I waited for Mommy to make a decision about a lamp and a rug. Eventually we filled two carts…oh didn’t I mention that we had two carts today?
It’s time to pack up and head for the airport. Feeling blue is an understatement but I try to make small talk along the way with Chiara and Finley. Timing was perfect because when they dropped me off at the Delta departure terminal, all they had to do was drive over to the Jet Blue arrival terminal and pick up Tia who will stay with them for 2 weeks. Help is never far away…and I learned later that evening that Tia wept tears of joy at seeing Finley and Frankie (and we all know Frankie is her favorite).
I got my suitcases, gathered up my blazer, swung my computer and handbag on my shoulder and kissed Francesca goodbye, hugged and kissed Chiara and went around to the other side of the car to kiss Finley goodbye and tried VERY hard to control my voice which was quivering and say goodbye and I love you very much to her. She looked at me and saw my eyes were brimming so I just kissed her again and closed the door. I decided to go into the airport to check my bag and there were no lines. There was a reservations clerk and another Delta employee alongside of her who seemed to be a greeter. She was all smiles and cheery and asked me how I was. AND that’s when I began to cry. I couldn’t stop myself even though I knew I was making a scene. Thank God the area was almost completely empty. I told her I had to leave the grandchildren and she immediately extended empathy and said she understood as we all love our grandchildren so much. Asked me where I was going and assured me I would be back soon. Valiantly I pulled myself together to get checked in and PAY for the suitcase which I find really ridiculous that you cannot have even ONE piece of luggage stowed! When I got to the gate and sat down I called Peter and of course started crying tears of sorrow again. This was going to be a rough ride home…
Before boarding the attendants asked passengers to surrender their carry-on bags and allow them to go into cargo because the flight was full and overhead space as always limited. Considering that Delta charges to put bags in cargo, gee what a surprise that everyone had a suitcase with them. They also repeated company policy dictating only two pieces per person allowed and your handbag was one and my computer the other one. I did have a bulging carry-on bag with me too. I debated about what to do because I did not want to be embarrassed at the entrance to the jetway so I went up to the desk and asked if they were charging for the bags that they were now storing. “No” – well okay then, here’s my bag. How nice to go down the narrow aisle carrying nothing more than my handbag and my laptop!!
And guess what? It was! NOT because I was teary but because there were two children in the row in front of me. One with her mother and grandfather and the other with the grandmother. At least the one with the grandmother in front of me was well-behaved BUT OMG the one across the aisle was wild. I think she was around two and she would NOT stop screaming. You know that awful loud shriek and make-believe tears because there are no real tears just a long whining whimper and it went on and on. The couple behind them were beside themselves. They tried to change seats, they asked for earplugs. I’m telling you she would not stop and the mother remained calm and did try several things to placate her but nothing worked. I mean REALLY what did she want? If it was to sit with Grandma, couldn’t they have switched seats? Well actually they did pass both kids twice back and forth OVER THE HEAD of the man sitting on the aisle seat in front of me!!! At one point the mother took the crying kid to the back of the plane and managed to get caught behind the food service which meant although I could still hear the crying (we all could), can you imagine what it was like for the people in the rows behind me who now had this kid right next to them?
The best part of the trip was yet to come. Tom had a car service waiting for me at LGA. The nice young man took my luggage which came out almost immediately and had me home in record time.
It’s always nice to come home!
Posted in Finley Ray, Frankie, Friends, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged Breakers, Chiara, Closet, Finley, Florida, Francesca, iPhone, Tom on January 10, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Sunday – But I asked for a late checkout till 1pm so I could be at the house and the last big push was on to get the girls rooms done. Finley and Francesca were still at The Breakers (ordering up room service no doubt) with Martini (yes that is her name) , one of the hotel’s Nannies. Moving is upsetting to everyone and Chiara wanted them to come to their new house and be able to see their rooms all set up. I think I was still working on the kitchen trying to figure out what dishes to put in what cabinet. I have this organization thing about kitchens and I’m trying to lay it out the way I probably learned in Home Economics class lol.
This IS a Martha Stewart closet!
Tom was setting up his office and playing music way too loud! So loud that we had to scream his name to turn it down a couple of times because we couldn’t communicate at all on the second floor. At this point I decided to re-do the linen closet. This is where OCD comes into play and usually someone benefits. On Saturday Tom hired his assistant from work and her daughter to help us unpack boxes and put stuff away. At one point in the afternoon I saw both the mother and daughter sitting on the floor folding sheets and towels and putting them in the linen closet. I looked at the closet on Sunday morning and knew that I wouldn’t be able to sleep IF I didn’t re-fold the towels and sheets and blankets. Luckily for me (and for her), Chiara agreed that the closet didn’t look good. Tom came by and saw me pulling stuff out and refolding and remarked that the daughter had done the closet and then the mother said it was wrong and they re-did it. NOW I was doing it again-so many man hours, it’s a good thing this isn’t a Union job! Martha, on the other hand would be perfectly pleased as the closet was now a work of art if I do say so myself!
And speaking of communication…Tom took me back to my hotel to get the cat and check out. On the way he wondered out loud if Chiara had packed the champagne they had gotten as a gift at the Policeman’s Ball. I texted her and the instant reply was “Shit no you better call The Breakers right away”. Not having both feet firmly planted in the 21st Century nor having the money to spend on one, I don’t have an iPhone but at least I had my Droid and internet access. So I look up The Breakers on Google or rather I try to look it up. Have you ever tried to see your screen in the bright Florida sunshine? I swear I scrolled all over what came up on mobile and THERE WAS NO CONTACT US link to be found. OK so I called the reservation desk and spoke to someone who after I explained the situation, said she would connect me to the front desk. FIVE full minutes later I hung up the phone and spent another five squinting and twisting myself every which way in the seat to find a spot where I actually could see the screen. I called another number also connected to a site proclaiming, of course, reservations. After I went through my spiel that the Clarks had checked out but had forgotten a very expensive bottle of champagne in the room, I was informed I would need to call the actual hotel they were just for reservations and were off-site. Geez!
On the phone again to the original reservation clerk, I tell her that she left me on hold so I hung up. She explained she was trying to get someone at the front desk. Rachel (her name) said the room had been cleaned and no one reported finding anything. I told her someone had to have seen the bottle there. She then mentions things left behind like a bottle could be considered trash by the cleaning staff. I’m hot, tired and sitting in a car in the sunshine while my son-in-law buys some lunch so I very loudly say to Rachel, “NO ONE would see this bottle and throw it out! If they don’t have it someone does”. Ok, ok, she is going to get a hold of the front desk. Tom returns and since this is his thing, I give him my phone, put on speaker and tell him what she has said so far. Apparently, the Clarks did not actually check out but since check out is 12 noon and the hotel has the card number, they WERE checked out. And we are being told that there was an open bottle of champagne but that was trashed”. Well, this one was not opened and it cost $1000! Visibly or rather audibly Rachel is struggling to make some sense of something that is not her problem because she is just a reservation clerk but trying hard to help. She comes back on the line and says, “Good News, they have the bottle and they are holding it at the security desk for you”. Ah great all is well……..
Fast forward to about 4pm and I tell Tom he better go get the girls because it will be dark soon and they have yet to see their new house and they have to eat and bathe because Finley starts school tomorrow at 8am! Off he goes BUT he stops at Lowes first and I have no idea where it was or how far it was BUT both Clarks use their GPS to find their way to the Post Office, Starbucks or Sears Roebuck! THEN he went to the hotel and called me to say that now he was being told that they did not have the bottle. Ridiculous! Fortunately I remembered who we had spoken to-Rachel who of course by now was nowhere to be found. It is 6:45pm and the girls are still at the hotel as is Tom but not the champagne. “COME HOME”! he is loudly directed by his wife. For God’s sake those kids have to eat.
EAT? There’s no food in the house, Chiara didn’t go to the grocery store because she wanted to be home when the girls arrived and take their pictures. Delivery Dudes again! Needless to say it was pitch black when they arrived, best laid plans blah blah blah,
Did I mention that we have been cleaning the house every day since Saturday? Well the very expensive Dyson vacuum cleaner wasn’t working (didn’t she know that before she had it packed?), the Swifter box was rapidly depleting as I discarded one black cloth after another and then one black wet Swifter pad after another. Tom returned not with the champagne but with a new Dyson but by that time we were too exhausted to open the box! We were all Blackfoot Indians and everyone knew they had to wash their feet before getting into bed or collapsing on the bed, whichever came first!
Sweet dreams Finley, BIG day tomorrow at your new school. What kind of nursery school starts at 8am and ends at 2:20pm? The private kind, the uniform kind.
Posted in BY THE WAY, Finley Ray, Frankie, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged Breakers, Finley, New York City, Palm Beach, Palm Beach Florida on January 8, 2013| 3 Comments »
PB FL Breakers Hotel01 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
YIKES! It’s been crazy around here! I’m glad to finally be online again, the ATT guy showed up at 1pm and left at about 6pm! We have one TV hooked up and it’s a 60″ flat screen sitting on the floor leaning up against a bookcase. Pedro (yes that is his real name) was supposed to come on Friday to hang the flat screens but he cancelled which was sort of okay because Friday was a day in hell. I don’t really care about the TV and am glad the wireless is installed, however it IS TUESDAY and still no Pedro.
Friday – Not only was it as hot as hell (I’m not kidding) but that was also the delayed move-in date. Two trucks, 5 movers speaking Spanish and about 900 pieces were moved in. Every box and piece of furniture had a number on it and a color sticker and guess whose job it was to check off the boxes as they came off the truck to see if the number correlated to the master list? Uh huh, that’s right. Once the box was in the house I had to direct the movers to the appropriate place which meant that by noon I must have climbed those 15 stairs 15 times!!! Door wide open so no A/C on – I told you it was hell.
Certainly we couldn’t sleep in the house that night so it was back to the hotels on Friday night. If you read the previous blog you know I was the designated cat carrier and since The Breakers in Palm Beach doesn’t allow cats, I was relegated to The Residence Inn in Delray! REALLY???
Saturday – It rained. Thank the Lord, the stuff was in the house, now the movers were back to unpack. There were boxes piled from floor to ceiling in both of the girl’s rooms when they set up the beds, anything that didn’t have a clear cut home ended up in the dining room or the guest room (and you know who ultimately would be int the guest room)! We worked and worked and worked some more to get as much done as possible before Chiara and Tom had to leave to go back to Palm Beach to attend the Policeman’s Ball. I was finally going to get to The Breakers because I was babysitting that night.
Saturday Night – Finley and Francesca had now spent the entire day with a Breakers’ nanny. When I got there, they were wired for light and sound and stuffing goldfish in their mouths. We took a walk to see the turtles who were not to be seen because they were in their house, and with Finley spinning like a top around the basketball court and shrieking at the top of her lungs, we made our way to the Italian Restaurant in the hotel. “Do you have a reservation”? I look around the restaurant, there is ONE table seated, “Do I need one”? I ask. “YES”. “The entire restaurant is empty”, retorts the smartass from NYC. And then I was informed that all tables were reserved at staggered times. Hummpphhh. I was told we could eat outside. Midway thru the meal which has up to this point not gone entirely smoothly, Francesca announces she is done and wants down. I try to explain to her that we can’t get down because we’re not done and we have to wait for the lady to come back with the bill. Thwarted only for a moment, Frankie announces she has to pee. She is in the early stages of potty training so I jump up and grab her out of the chair and tell Finley to stay seated and DON’T MOVE! Well that’s not happening; She decides she has to go also so I grab my handbag, Francesca and head to the ladie’s room with Finley leading the way. 15 minutes later, Francesca did NOT have to pee, Finley did and then some and locked me out of the stall AND kept up a running dialogue on what was and was not happening in the stall AND there were other women and girls in the room!! I was sure the waitress figured we skipped out on the check, so I went directly to the hostess and explained my hurried exit and asked for the check. “Dessert”? Finley wants to know. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? “You two are going to the room and to bed”. The crowning glory of the dinner escapade was watching Finley race down the beautiful lobby of The Breakers and sort of plow right into Francesca who went down face first on the marble floor and screamed her head off all the way up to the 5th floor in an elevator with other guests and out the door past other guests who looked shocked as the doors opened to reveal a wailing child, a harried grandmother and a 4 year-old protesting, “It was an accident”!
Residence Inn Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Posted in Finley Ray, Frankie, tagged Finley, Finny, Francesca, Frankie, New York Yankees on October 12, 2011| Leave a Comment »
First there was Nat King Cole and his daughter Natalie, then Frank and friends, Tony Bennett and Andrea Bocelli….and NOW Finley and Francesca. Do I hear Heart and Soul?? Thanks Tia!!
"We're warming up for the 7th inning stretch"!
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