I Need a Plumber or Just a Lightbulb Moment!

A few days ago, my bathroom sink's faucet was trickling water.



Whether I turned on the hot or cold, it was the same amount of water streaming out which was almost nothing. I knew it was time to change the faucet which thrilled me since I have wanted to change it for a long time. But in the meantime, it took forever to just fill a cup for brushing my teeth. I thought it might be the aerator (which I learned about when Winnie needed a new one for her bathroom faucet) but looking underneath the spout, it seemed to be one whole piece. How can I just change that little screen? I 'suffered' through this inconvenience for several days, grumbling the whole time. I finally went to Home Depot when I got my car back and happily left with a very pretty new faucet.


sooooo pretty...

When I opened the carton and read the instructions, the last thing I am to do after installation is to remove the aerator and let both hot and cold water run through for a few minutes.

Huh.

Lightbulb went off.

I went to look at my old faucet again. Hmmm...the aerator part now no longer looked as if it was one piece. I tried to turn it with my free hand and it wouldn't budge. I got a pair of pliers and using it - it easily turned and the aerator screwed right off.

After cleaning it or really - just running water through it and screwing it back on - the water ran out just fine and dandy! Duh! Oh brother!!

Before & After

On Dec 3rd, I was hit by a driver who went through a red light:





I got my car back on Jan 19th - Benji did a great job!

Cheerio and All That...

With one European visit under her belt, the next year, I took Nikki to London during her school break in February of 1994.

Stan drove us to JFK airport and he parked in front of the terminal, found a security guard and showed his ID to say he would be returning quickly. That particular day I was so glad he did that so he could walk us to the check-in line and made sure we were all settled in. This was certainly before 9/11. When I got to an agent and presented our passports, I had brought Nikki’s and erroneously brought Stan’s instead of my own!! OMG…we quickly jumped into the car and he brought me back home so I could retrieve my passport and got back to check in once again - all in plenty of time. Thank goodness I usually like to arrive early when traveling and also that I didn’t live so far away from JFK. Whew!

We took Virgin Airlines for the first time and this was the first airline that had individual TV sets for the passengers. They also gave wonderful amenities for their young travelers providing them with a cute knapsack filled with goodies.

We stayed at the Swallow International Hotel which was a modern high rise in Central London and the underground stop would be Earl’s Court. We were in walking distance to some of the museums and very accessible to public transportation.




London Bridge


The Double-Decker buses from a Double Decker

After the first day of just acclimating to the time change and the neighborhood, we visited Madame Tussaud’s and caught “Miss Saigon” on our first full day. I think by the age of 8, Nikki was already “spoiled” for the better things in life. At the time, Miss Saigon was a huge hit in NY and it had been impossible to get tickets so I was very excited to be able to obtain 2 tickets in London. But the seats were way up high in the rafters costing only 8.5 pounds which at the time was something like $10 each. When we settled down in our seats, Nikki looked around and said “We’re going to get nosebleeds!”…I didn’t even know she knew that expression!


Nikki & Madam Edna


With the Beatles

Next day we took a tour of Windsor Castle and visited Harrod’s. Day after that, we had a ½ day sightseeing tour and of course, we had to wander through Hamleys Toy Store…one of the world’s largest. We had a fine old time there!



Windsor Castle

Harrods taken from the back of a bus

I had preplanned a day tour of Stonehenge, Salisbury and Bath. I have to admit that I am glad I got to do that. There really isn’t much to see but the whole mysterious placement of the stones is pretty fascinating.


Stonehenge


The Baths at Bath

On our last full day, we stood on line for 2 hours at the Victoria & Albert museum to see the Faberge collection and then we shopped on Oxford Street. Was it worth the wait? Perhaps not…but we can say we saw them.


The lines at the V&A Museum

Nikki really enjoyed this city. So much so we visited again the following year. She felt that we didn’t get to see so much of actual London since I planned all these tours. So we returned same time next year and wandered through the city the whole trip. Enjoyed different museums and revisited favorite stores and sites.

Then Nikki ended up living there when she studied abroad during her junior year and interned at the BBC which was a great opportunity and terrific experience!


Yeah...I was there too!

"Wise Men Say..."

I was returning home from work on Aug 16th, 1977 and as I neared my parents’ store, my sisters were waiting for me and quickly ushered me inside and sat me down.

“Guess who died?” they asked excitedly. The state they were in, I knew it was someone of importance to me and without hesitation, I just knew. “Elvis?”

To this day, I don’t know why I responded that way. It could have been anyone. Even someone we knew but instinctively I knew it was Elvis. I was heartbroken. Like so many millions, I loved Elvis.

I wasn’t old enough to be one of the screaming crying groupies when he came onto the scene. I started to appreciate him watching his movies. I was addicted and the more I saw of him, the more I fell in love. He was just simply so sexy to me.

Of course, I love the early Elvis and keep that image in my mind and heart. There had been a gawky boy from grade school that was a misfit named Richard but as he grew into young adulthood, he had an incredible likeness to Elvis. But he was definitely a bad boy and sadly he died in a gang war at a very young age.

When I got married, I chose “Can’t Help Falling in Love” as our wedding song. My all time favorite Elvis song is "Suspicious Minds" and when I hear him singing “Always On My Mind”…well…I have to stop whatever I’m doing and just listen. All of these on my iPod’s play list.

I never did buy into the Elvis is still alive somewhere. I don’t even think I would want him to suddenly materialized. This is just a little salute to the King of Rock on what would have been his 75th birthday on Jan 8th.

Parlez Vous Francais?

Just shy of Nikki’s 8th birthday, during the Presidents’ Week break - her first trip to Europe was Paris. And I decided to splurge and booked us into the George V. A legendary landmark, it was in easy walking distance to the Champs-Elysee & the Eiffel Tower. I wanted “easy” since I was traveling for the first time in a foreign country with a child. And part of me wanted luxury.

Considering it was Nikki’s first trans-Atlantic flight, she did remarkably well. I was very lucky because she really was a wonderful traveler. She never complained during the 7 hour flight nor when we landed and our body clocks were screaming 4am and it was 10am local Parisian time.

Arriving at the George V. it was all I expected it to be. Old world charm and sophistication. European hotel rooms are tiny. And although our suite wasn’t spacious by American standards, I knew we had a nice size room. A large bedroom and then a long hall with a small foyer area before entering a rather roomy bath. It was quite lovely.




It was a 5 minute walk to the Champs-Elysee and I love walking that famous boulevard. All the shops, cafes & bistros, clubs and even fast food places lined the wide tree-lined avenue. As soon as we got to the Champs from the hotel, the first thing we would see was the Arc de Triomphe. What I always felt was the starting point.




Top of the Eiffel

Prior to our trip, I prepped Nikki and told her all about the famous landmarks especially The Louvre and got her very excited about seeing the Mona Lisa even though she had no idea what the Mona Lisa was all about. But in planning our trip, I decided to leave that for last since it was an all day affair and can be extremely overwhelming. Instead, I chose the Musee D’Orsay as our first museum visit. A smaller museum that was converted from a railroad station. I read there was a wonderful café on the top floor serving rich hot chocolat and luscious chocolate cake.


Nikki amid the art of the Musee D'Orsay

On our first full day there, we walked to the museum which was the full length of the Champs from the Arc. The artwork was magnificent and the artists, famous. We went to the top floor where there was indeed a delightful café with scrumptious choices which we thoroughly enjoyed.

Many hours later while walking back to the hotel…Nikki who rarely complains announced…”Mommy…no more museums!” LOL…omigosh…and so the D‘Orsay became the first and last museum we visited. At least of art museums because I did scrambled to find a Toy museum hidden in a Parisian suburb. How hidden? No one spoke English! But both Nikki & I understood the concept of wind-up toys so it did end up being quite interesting. Nearby was also a zoo which was fun to visit. Certainly for Nikki it was better than an art museum. I was so glad that I had pre-arranged for a tour of the French castles in the Loire Valley which was a full day trip. The thing was on the day of the tour, Nikki was not feeling well. But she was such a trooper and went on the exhausting tour with hardly a whimper. I see now in the photos how badly she was feeling. My poor baby.


At the Zoo


One of the castles


Feeling as "foggy" as the weather

Walking through the Tuileries Gardens, there was a carousel and after playing on the slides and swings, I had Nikki take a ride. As it came to an end and we were walking away…a heavy set Frenchman was saying something to me. I waved him off, smiling, nodding at him but moving away, at first thinking he was being friendly until he became more animated and pointed to a sign. The carousel was not free!! Red in the face, I quickly reached in my purse and paid. Live and learn.


One of the many carousels in Paris but not the one I thought was free!



I believe Nikki’s favorite thing and also mine, was the food. We found a bistro that had “all-you-can-eat” Carpaccio. It was so delicious that I think we could have sat there all night ordering it but we were too embarrassed to order more than twice!

C’est la Vie!


Home-made Mad-lib

Dates & More

Sometime during December of 1974, I stopped in the Hallmark store on Fifth Avenue and 56th Street. I loved card stores and buying cards and this store was beautiful with a circular stairway leading to a lower level. I must have purchased something because I was given their complimentary date book. On the cover was a Precious Moments drawing and the back had the address of the store.

I started to use it to mark down friends’ and family’s birthdays and then to write down appointments and dates. Somewhere down the line, I used it as a sort of quick journal…jotting a few words on what happened that particular day…lunch with a friend…a chat on the phone …even basic things like what I ate or what I bought.

When December of 1975 rolled around, I went back to the same store and got another date book. I did this for 12 years…determined to get the date book from the same Hallmark Store. December of 1987, I was working at the World Trade Center and there was a perfectly good Hallmark store in the concourse. I also had a 2 year old and no time to get to 5th Avenue. I relented and finally broke the chain. After that, it didn't matter where I got the date book - as long as I got one.

To date, I have 35 of them. I don't even know when they started printing them. But from some research, it seems that Hallmark has had these date books since at least the 1940’s. So my collection is just a drop in the bucket by comparison.

But I have 34 years of memories, events - big and small, birthdays, passings and simple moments recorded in these little books. At any moment, I can scan through and find exactly what date I pass my road test or when I discovered I was pregnant. Or when I first met a new friend who is now an old friend.

Christmas card - $3.50
Hallmark Date Book - Free
Entries - Priceless

Better Late Than Never!

Since Dec 26th, I keep checking the mail box. Nothing! Just bills and junk mail! I had indeed deleted people off my mailing list. But that's not to say I completely erased them. I simply moved them to another "page" and highlighted them in red so I remember next year that I need to really consider whether or not they get one of my lovely cards! LOL Uh...getting obsessed...you think?

BUT...this morning...eureka! Two - count 'em - two cards!! And they were worth the wait since they both had photos!! So Mark and Annahelen..you're both moved back on the list! Lucky people! :-)

And my new postman is off the hook...for now. But that's another story!