O, call back yesterday, bid time return! -King Richard II. Act iii. Sc. 2.

you'll never guess what it's doing outside right now.......

So, to take my mind off yet more white stuff, I'll blog.

Yesterday was more than just Valentine's Day in our family' it was my beautiful daughter's 35th birthday. And I am still fascinated that I had something to do with creating this wonderful human being. I was barely 21 years old and married a little over a year when M joined us. Granted I was scared to death when they induced my labor.

And. It. Hurt. Like. A. Mo-Fo.......

but it only took about 9 hours from start to finish. I was lucky--I can't imagine being in labor for almost an entire day. I don't even want to do something that feels good for more than a few hours at a time.

I thought I knew what being a mom was all about, but boy did my generation grow up with clueless fantasies. Yes, being a mom is very rewarding, but it's also really hard. And no one really prepares you for it either. M was a beautiful, healthy 7 pounds, 3 ounces who had a mind of her own from the get-go. Of course, she instantly had daddy wrapped around her little finger; I was just along for the ride.

But she entranced both of us. We could not believe we had such a perfect baby. Even if she did have her days and nights mixed up for many months. 4AM, there she'd be wanting to see what was going on. "Absolutely nothing kid. Now please let mommy get some sleep." She continued to be a night owl well into her 20s.

Today she is a mom herself. And a business woman. And a great daughter. Love you tons M.

# # # #

Speaking of youth........ While I was working from home last week, I started cleaning out drawers in my desk. And, I found 3 poems I wrote when I was in high school. I was a hippie chick trapped in a Catholic school uniform. I thought I'd share one with you:

THE SQUARE

The man's camera goes click;

I realize he's taking our pic.

That does the trick,

I start feeling slick.

I give him the sign;

I'm feelin' so fine.

The sailors hand us a line;

Sorry-won't work this time.

The man starts away, Claud after him;

We follow her on a whim.

Says she's gonna photograph him.

"With what?" I ask, feeling grim.

She pretends to take a picture of the gent.

He says "She must be pseudo art student."

"I'm an art student, but I'm not pseudo." I went.

And that was how our evening was spent.

now is the winter of our discontent

28 and a half inches this time--and another storm coming on Wednesday!

Enough already. It started at around 6pm on Friday night and kept going non-stop til about 3pm on Saturday. OY!
I lost power for about an hour and a half, but fortunately my mother's building didn't.

Poor mom hasn't had to deal with snow for over 3 decades--and she had to come back to one of the worst winters we've had in years. Her temporary digs are 5 blocks from me, but it might as well have been 500 miles--neither one of us was going outside.

Today was the great dig out--phase one: find my car.

That took a few minutes. Then I had to start digging it out.

That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be--for once I did something right. I parked up next to the back of my building. The way the wind was blowing the snow sideways during the storm caused the snow to drift in such a way that I only had to dig about 2 feet from the back of my car to get to the plowed area of the lot.....

Parking spaces are at a premium at my building under normal circumstances--snow like this really screws things up--and they do a lousy job of plowing too, which doesn't help. Because of my knee, I can't go traipsing through the snow, so I will have to resort to putting a lawn chair in the spot I've dug out when I go to work tomorrow. Yeah.

A pox on Punxatawny Phil and his frickin' shadow.

“Blow, blow thou winter wind…”—another perspective

Okay, so I guess my “No snow” dance needs some tweaking—we got 2 feet of snow in 24 hours! We’re beating Chicago for snowfall for heaven’s sake. This is the most snow the Philadelphia area has gotten in one day since about 1996.

OY—I still had Christmas shopping to do. And this weather really makes my knee throb. [Ibuprophen here I come]

Fortunately, friends dug me out [I love my friends!!!!!] and I was able to get the last of my gifts purchased yesterday [good thing I took the day off, huh.] I just went to two stores and came home. I’m sure I was a funny sight gingerly gimping my way across the parking lot, but who cares. My shopping is done and half the stuff is wrapped. [fun with curling ribbon will happen on Christmas Eve—I’ll go all Martha up in it.] Then it’s just a matter of crossing my withered fingers that the fam likes what I got.

The pictures are pretty and all that, but not a fan of having to drive—and nowadays, walk!—in it. To get over my anxiety about navigating to and from my car with my still f’d up knee, I tried to remember snowstorms from my past.

Actually, one of my earliest memories is watching from an upstairs window as my parents trudged down our street in about 2 feet of the white stuff. They had taken my grandparents up to NYC to take a voyage on the Queen Mary. It was after Easter and my Mom had worn her finery so she and Dad could have a nice lunch in the city and then head home. Well, it started to snow as they were nearing New York, so they hurried their drop off and meal. It was a very quick falling storm and in no time we had quite an accumulation. They made it all the way to the top of our street and got stuck. So down the road they came hand in hand. Mom was in heels and her organza hat was a wilted mess around her face. But she smiled up at us as she clumped her frozen high-heeled shoe down in the snow.

Of course, I remember the snowball fights with my friends and showing my kids the snow when they were babies. We have pictures of them bundled up like the Michelin Man—and invariably they’d have to pee as soon as you got the last layer on them. And their little voices are muffled from the 5 foot scarf Nanny insisted on winding around their faces….. Actually, last night I was watching video of my grandson out in his first snow storm when he was about 6 months old. His expression was somewhat akin to mine these days as I venture out.

Now, off to re-choreograph that dance…..

“Blow, blow thou winter wind…” –As You Like It

We are experiencing our first bout of winter weather here in the Northeast. And it freaked me out.

The final snowstorm of last winter caused my downfall—literally. I slipped on the ice outside of my apartment building and haven’t been right since. [I know, those that know me are saying “E, you ain’t never been right.”] I tore my meniscus and my ACL, severely bruised the ligaments on both sides of my left knee and had cartilage floating around in there. Other than that, it was all good. [Wish I could have figured out how to load one of the images from my MRI on here—that would have been a hoot to share.] I would have preferred to break a bone—that heals eventually.

My knee is still a bit of a mess. Guess this is what living with a torn ACL will be like. They repaired all of the other damage, but the ACL is a way more complicated procedure with a more intense recovery period. You’re like totally incapacitated. Since I live alone, it wasn’t really feasible. And as the surgeon so nicely pointed out to me, I’m not a dancer or an athlete. Well, there goes my dream of being a Rockette….

So at about 2PM the rain turned into snow and I anxiously watched from my window….. I had to go out tonight—I made a commitment to usher at Players Club, the theatre I am involved with. The current production is a blast, so if you live anywhere near Swarthmore, Pa go check out IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE—A RADIO PLAY.

Let me tell you, I was a nervous wreck walking to my car. I could feel my heart pounding and my breathing getting faster….. I was on my way to the theatre that night too. I came home after the intermission ‘cause I was worried about things freezing. I hate not being able to give my full commitment to something; I hate still limping some days. I hate that my knee forecasts changes in the weather for days before they happen; that watching snowfall now fills me with panic. I hate living this way.

I also hate that I have to bring my mother back to winter weather after 36 years of living in temperate climes. I feel awful that she’ll probably be housebound from January to March. But, I have no choice. In this economy, I can’t give up a good job to move someplace where the job market sucks big time. All I can do is try to make whatever apartment we wind up in as cozy as possible. And act like going out in the snow doesn’t freak me out.

Wonder if snow shoes go with “office casual?”