Now here is a unique instrument

I'm back

Well, I returned from the visit with mom and I think I returned unscathed. It was a close call, but I made it.

Really though, the visit was ok. Fortunately she seems to be holding in there. Well, she did mess up her income taxes and I'll need to have them amended, but hey it's only money :-)

When I got back, I ran out to the annual meeting of the Walkway over the Hudson. As usual it was very informative, elected new officers, welcomed the new executive director and then went for a bike ride up on the bridge...Ya, gotta love it.

Best Illusion of the Year

Now this is a great illusion, for sure.

On my way to Mom's soon

Well, I'll be heading east son for another visit with my mother. I'll be kind of checking up as well, just to see that she's ok. You know I have kind of befriended a business associate and we are sharing parent stories. She's in Florida right now caring for her elderly father. I believe that he's gong to move back to his home this week and then have people come in to watch and care for him. Both she and her brother live out of state, so it's kind of tough as he is not really doing well and the future is dim at best.

I try to give her encouraging words, in whatever capacity that I can. I honestly care. You know, as I type this a thought came to mind concerning her reaching out to me, which she certainly does. I'm not receptive to that at all. I kind of just want to sit in my corner and to be left alone. I'd don't like talking about it a lot. It's like, it's private stuff or something like that. I was brought up by an old very New England family outside of Boston. I know that they didn't share or show feelings much at all. I wonder if this is where my protectiveness came from.

Who knows what this visit will bring. I never know.

New Clock

So, I added a clock to the Blog. Pretty slick huh??

It's raining today and kind of dreary. It's the kind of day that you just want to jump back into bed and watch a Humphrey Bogurt movie. Ah, The African Queen comes to mind.

But, alas I was called into action this morning and need to work at a customer site on their server today.

It was Mother's Day Yesterday

Well, I managed to come through the day and I'm still standing.

So, how did your day go you might ask.

For my wife, I got up and decided that in order to have her feel OK about Mothers Day, I decided to do all (well, maybe not ALL) those little things that I don't normally do. Did some gardening, picked up the house (big time), made dinner (actually 2 dinners, from one Boston Butt cut in half) and anything else that would allow here to do whatever she wanted (she chose to work on her jewelry). She went to bed happy.

For my mother, I had sent flowers on Saturday and then called her on Sunday morning. We talked our normal kind of short conversation and I also scheduled a visit to her in a few weeks. She seemed OK with it all.

So, it seems that I actually came through unscathed for another year. Of course, next is my son's birthday, but that's another story completely....

Oh ya, and again Happy Mother's Day...

It's Mother's Day Tomorrow

Every year Mother's Day comes rolling around. For the very vast majority, it's a time to reflect and celebrate how wonderful their mother has been in their lives. Well, for me it's a day of frustration. This frustration actually comes in two flavors; my mother and my wife.

You see my mother and I have never been close. From those early informative years I lived somewhere else and she has a family background that doesn't allow her to get close. Ya, I understand that she was married (for about a year) and had a son (me), but that doesn't tell the whole story. So let's just say that there hasn't ever been a lot of love passed back and forth between us. So, now Mother's Day comes along and what am I to do? Extole my great love for her, when she never taught my how to love? Bestow all sorts of gifts on her? Nope, it's usually it's simply flowers, which she always claims are the best that she's ever gotten before. Yadda, Yadda, you get the picture that Mother's Day has never been at the top of the list for me. As a side note, Father's Day is a joke because I never had a father in my life.

From my observations, it's obvious to me that my wife has always enjoyed and celebrated Mother's Day. Enter me into her life as a second marriage and the frustration starts. I don't like Mother's Day, but if I don't do something for her she gets mad at me. I mean I don't even like doing anything with my own mother and here my wife wants me to celebrate it with her and she's not even my mother! Its kind of like that old saying; being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

On a brighter side, Happy Mother's Day Everyone.