Tales from the Crypt - the beginning of the end

So it's been a while since I've written about my part time job for The Crazy Man.  And it's not because he is no longer crazy.  Ha!  More so than ever.  The Crazy Man, at the ripe age of 79 ("above ground" as is he is so fond of telling everyone he speaks to) is seriously considering a move to a retirement community.  One that has graduated levels care and can help you until the bitter end. 

It wasn't an easy decision for The Crazy Man to decide to take this step.  He very much values his independence, LOVES his house and hates the idea of being around older people.  He finds them depressing.  Mind you, he doesn't consider himself to be among his peers -- he is far above them in his mind.  Ha!

However, due to a huge number of close friends, doctors and other professional types whose opinions he greatly values, he has been convinced this is for the best.  And believe me, this move should've happened about 2 years ago when he was in better shape physically and mentally.

One of the first steps he needs to do is sell his house.  The Crazy Man does not do anything without a great deal of research.  He has been in contact with no less than 6 Realtors to give him their professional point of view on the following: 

1. How much to list the house as is?
2. How much to list the house if renovations were done?
3. How much in renovations do you recommend and what would they be?

Here's where my life becomes needlessly challenging in working for The Crazy Man.  He doesn't remember anyone's names.  NONE OF THEM!  So I now have a chart (in order of who came to visit) and have labeled them with their real name and phone number and then a column with their nickname The Crazy Man has given them.  The next 4 columns have their answers to the above questions.  It's a great thing I'm organized.

Here are the nicknames The Crazy Man has given these Realtors:
1. The first one -- that's an easy one to figure out.  He was the first to come.
2. The guy who promised the report by Monday at 9:00am - Turns out his name is Johnathan
3. Anna - Ha!!  First of all her name isn't Anna, it's Amy.  AND, she works with #3 (Johnathan).  She has been to The Crazy Man's house 3 times on Johnathan's behalf and The Crazy Man still doesn't get the fact she isn't going solo on this.
4. The girl - her real name is "Jenny"
5.  Paul -- however, his real name is "Pete".  He has also been called "The last one" and "The best one"

Please know, he only refers to them by their nicknames.

Meanwhile, he had a random realtor stop by in the midst of all this craziness and ask if he was interested in selling his house.  She has a very interested buyer (all cash deal!) who desperately wants to buy a house on his street so they are within walking distance of their grandchildren.  This realtor is now known as "The neighbors".  The neighbors gave a very generous offer for buying the house as is.  The Crazy Man is not sure about this and wants to now get an appraiser for an independent opinion.

OMG!

Don't get me started on what he is doing to compare the two independent living communities he is interested in moving into.   I'm looking forward to all of this being over soon.

Friendships

When I went to meet Ian to have lunch with him at school on his birthday, I was able to spend a little time with Sam during her lunch time as they kid's lunch period overlaps by 10 minutes.

As I was approaching Sam at her table, I see she is sitting between two girls I know.  Both of these girls are super sweet and I am pleased Sam is friends with them.

Girl # 1 on Sam's left is in the middle of telling Sam a story.
Sam interrupts her and says, "You need to speed this up."

OMG!

Then a few minutes later, Girl #2 on Sam's right side goes to give Sam a spontaneous hug.
Sam:  Ouch!  My shoulder!!
Girl #2:  Which one?
Sam:  Both of them!

Girl #2 begins apologizing for 'hurting' Sam.  Ha!  I quickly said, please don't ever apologize for giving someone a hug.

I can't believe Sam has friends.  It is amazing to me these girls put up with behavior like this and comes back for more. WOW.

Radley for the Win!

I love GREAT customer service.  And I get so excited when it happens to me.  

A year ago when I did my England and Portugal trip with friends, we found ourselves shopping one afternoon in London (well, we found ourselves shopping lots of afternoons in London) and discovered a store that sells handbags.  Really nice handbags.  Radley London was the name of the store.  We had a ball in this store. I spent more money than I ever had on a purse before.  Actually, I spent more money on one item of clothing/shoes/purses/etc than I ever had before.  But I loved these bags and decided it was okay to treat myself.  Who knew when I'd have the opportunity to be back here again?  

I purchased two purses (one I'd use in the Spring/Summer and one I'd use in the Fall/Winter) and a wallet that went with both bags.  I was so excited!  I came home and instantly started using the pink one all the way until October. It still looked brand new after 6 months of use.  I switched to the navy blue bag and continued using it through Winter.  Unfortunately this bag started wearing in a way that didn't look good or make sense.  It was losing its color in a spot that didn't even come in contact with anything.  I didn't think anything of it until I realized that Jeff was going to London and would be just down the street from where I got the bag.  I thought maybe if I contacted them they'd say to send it to them for repair.  I could do one better and have Jeff hand deliver it to them!  

The only problem with my plan was Jeff had no intention of helping me out.  He refused to even consider for a moment the idea of finding this women's handbag store.  But now that I had the idea in my head, I decided to call them anyway.

The woman who answered the phone (Sarah) could not have been nicer!  She said to send her a picture of the bag and an image of the receipt via email.  Done!  The next thing I know I've got a reply back the very next morning apologizing for the delay (um, what delay!?!?) and to pick out anything on their website for the value I spent on the bag and they would ship it to me at no charge.  OMG!!  I felt like a kid in a candy store trying to figure out what I'd want to get.

I couldn't decide between two bags and when I added the price, it was just about what my original bag cost.  I replied back to the email and asked if that was ok.  I got an almost immediate response and said they would be shipping BOTH bags out to me as soon as possible. And they apologized again for the problems this has caused.  The very next day I received the tracking/shipping information on my bags.

Needless to say, Radley now has a customer for life.  I love the way they handled this.  I am very impressed.  Way to go!!  

Flying solo

The helicopter mom in me is always at odds with the free-range mom in me.   This duel has been going on as long as Hamilton vs Burr. 

I want my kids to be well-adjusted and be able to think for themselves.  I want them to be able to problem solve and figure things out.  I'd like them to be able to take care of themselves and show me they have a good head on their shoulders.

But then I think, "Ian's only 11!!! (or whatever age he is when I'm having this tug of war in my head)  Samantha is only --!!"  They aren't ready to be independent.  They still need me.  I want to be needed!  They have their whole life ahead of them when their dad or me won't be around and they will be forced to sink or swim in this game of life.  Let me help them now. Why can't I parent them in a bubble and keep them firmly tucked under my wing?   Because that would be a disservice to them and society.

Most of the time my free-range parenting side prevails.  I am quick to let the kids stay home by themselves.  I am quick to tell them they need to make their own breakfasts and lunches.  I am quick to let Ian be part of a small group of his friends where he crosses a very busy intersection near our house and does lunch on his own.  I'm quick to let Ian walk home from school on his own if I need to take Samantha to an activity or an appt at the same time school lets out.  There have been several instances where the kids had to leave the house on their own and walk to school in the morning when Jeff and I couldn't be there.  I've taken a bold leap in letting the kids exert their independence and start doing things on their own.  This was never more evident then when Ian flew to Orlando for a long weekend by himself.  Yes, without me, without daddy, without anyone he knew.

Getting ready to board the plane, all on his own!

Ian handled it like a champ.  Me, on the other hand, had a few tears after saying good-bye to him and watched him get on the pane.  I can't believe at some point I thought this was a good idea.  What was I thinking?!?!?   They board unaccompanied minors first. Before anyone else gets on the plane, the unaccompanied minor is sent to take their seat and get settled.

I gave Ian 5 minutes and then started texting him on this spare cell phone we let him use for the trip.  This was our conversation as all the other passengers were boarding:

Me:  Hi.  Just checking in.  Everything ok on the plane?
Ian:  Yes I'm fine.
Me:  Ok.  I'm proud of you. You are going to have a great time. I love you.
Ian:  thanks.  I love you too.
Me:  Did someone help you get your suitcase in the overhead bin?
Ian:  Yes.
Me:  Ok, have a great trip. I love you.
Ian:  Bye. I love you too.
Me:  Has anyone checked on you to see if you are ok?
Ian:  Yes.
Me:  Ok, I will stop bugging you.  Make good choices.  I love you very much.
Ian:  Bye.  I love you too.

Ha!  Baby steps on this whole free-range parenting thing, right?  :)

I am happy to report that we both survived Ian's trip.  Ian did great.  I figured this is good training for the summer when the kids are at camp for a whole month.  Another instance where the helicopter mom in me was grounded big-time.  

Ian's rockstar kind of weekend

About a month ago Ian told me how much he misses his relatives in Orlando.  I had an idea that if it was ok with Jeff and Ian was up for it, he could fly down to Florida for the long Memorial Day holiday all on his own. And so that's just what Ian did.  From Saturday, May 27th to Tuesday, May 30th, Ian had 4 days he will never forget.  

Years from now when Ian reflects back on his life, this trip to Florida will inevitably be at the top of his favorite things to remember.  My dad, stepmother, mom, stepfather, both sisters, niece and brother-in-law all went way overboard in showing Ian a good time.  OMG!  In my kind of way of putting things, they could either go BIG or go home and they went BIG!  Really BIG!   So big that I was a bit concerned we wouldn't be able to get Ian on a flight back home.  I am pretty sure part of him would rather stay in Orlando being adored by all these relatives who love him and don't bug the shit out of him like his sister does.

Ian said he would love it if everyone (all 9 relatives) could be with him the whole time he was visiting.  He wanted everyone to show up everywhere he was going.  I told him that wasn't realistic. He should know that everyone was fighting over him and they all wanted him for themselves the whole time he was in Orlando.  Somehow they managed a rotating schedule that made sense and Ian stayed a night at Dad/Rita's house, a night at Lori/Ben/Rachel's house and a night at Mom/Jim's house.

What Ian didn't know was there were many, many surprises in store for him.  And yes, everyone was going to be at almost every place he went.  My family raised the bar ridiculously high!

Saturday:  Dad, Rita and Meghan picked him up at the airport.
Saturday lunch:  Surprise!  Everyone was at Carrabas for lunch.
Saturday afternoon:  Surprise!  Indoor Skydiving with Dad, Rita and Meghan
Sunday evening:  dinner at Sweet Tomatoes with Dad and Rita.  

Sunday morning:  Everyone (except Lori & Ben) went to the make-your-own pancake place.  A favorite restaurant among our family.
Sunday afternoon:  Mom, Jim, Rachel and Ian spent the day at New Smyrna Beach.
Sunday evening:  Ian went for sushi with Lori, Ben and Rachel

Monday:  The Sanford Zoo with Lori, Ben and Rachel. This was a special request from Ian on wanting to go here.
Monday later in the day/dinner:  Surprise!  Dave and Buster's with everyone.  Mom planned a little party for Ian's upcoming birthday and had a cake ready to go.

Tuesday morning/afternoon:  Time spent with Mom and Jim before the airport with Mom-Mom's world famous oatmeal. 

WOWEE!  Ian had a jam packed 3 days going to all these awesome places with his favorite people.

I love that Ian got this time and this amazing experience.  And I love that my family treated Ian like a rockstar and went all out.

Singing a tune, Ian is 12!

My first born is now officially 12.  It's crazy to think we've kept a kid alive for 12 years. I remember bringing him home from the hospital like it was yesterday.  Next thing you know, they become 12 years old.

Right now, Ian feels like the whole world has a cell phone but him.  EVERY single friend and classmate is mobiley connected but Ian.  Ha!  I don't think its quite that bad, but yes, it seems like this is the year kids have gotten phones.  Jeff and I aren't quite ready yet for Ian to join his peers.  We've had an extra 'spare' phone that we let Ian use from time to time if we need to stay in touch with him.  But as Ian is very aware this is not HIS cell phone.  We are about to enter uncharted territory as Ian is getting a phone as a graduation present from Jeff and me at the end of June.  This is a big time in his life as Ian finishes 6th grade and starts middle school next Fall.  We don't normally see Ian anxious, but the idea of middle school has him concerned.  I know he will do go great.  He is so friendly, outgoing and engaging.  I have no doubt in my mind that Ian will find his niche in middle school and have a great experience.

Besides the transition to middle school, Ian will be in full Bar Mitzvah training and preparation mode this coming year.  It's going to be a big year for him as he heads to 13.  

Ian continued to explore his love of acting and performing by participating in a theatre group on Saturdays.  From 9:00am to 1:00pm every Saturday the kids worked on a play.  It's really cool to see Ian's enthusiasm in learning his lines, the songs, the choreography and getting to the end result of performing in front of an audience.  Ian is thrilled he has a part that gives him 21 lines for the Spring production of Mulan, Jr.

Ian also continued with his Boys on the Trail running program through his school.  It met twice a week and is designed to get the kids to run a 5k.  He enjoyed it very much and I love that it gets him outside for fresh air and exercise.

Unfortunately his musical instrument of choice the saxophone has not brought Ian as much joy this year as it had last year.  Ian is pretty much counting down until the school year is over and he doesn't have to play it ever again.  It's a bit disappointing because its fun to listen to him practice, but it's been a long time since I've heard him play. 

Most days Ian sings to himself a wide variety of Broadway musical soundtracks.  He sings just loud enough that we all can hear it and the song gets stuck in our head.  I am certain that Ian doesn't even realize he is singing and it's done unconsciously.  Of course, Sam has major issues with this and yells all the time "STOP IAN!!  IT'S ANNOYING.  I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT ANYMORE".

Ian kept an open mind and looked beyond his fear of heights to tackle zip lining, a ropes obstacle course among the tree tops, and indoor sky diving.  I am so proud of him that he did not let fear get in his way of trying something new.  It paid off as he had a blast and would now do all of these activities again and again and again. 

Ian is more connected than ever to his relatives and can't get enough of them.  He really wanted to go down to Orlando and see everyone.  Ian decided he'd be ok to fly down on his own, as an unaccompanied minor.  It was a dream come true that he got all this one-on-one time with his grandparents, aunts, uncle and cousin.  We may just have to do this again next year.

I wish for Ian a year of much happiness and the ability for him to do his own thing, not because everyone around him is doing it.  May he make good choices and enjoy this time being 12.  Daddy and I love you so very much.

The return of braces!

Samantha is 9! How fine!

My little girl is growing up. Samantha is independent, spunkier than ever, spirited, and funny.  Samantha keeps us on our toes. She can be warm and loving one minute, and yelling and demanding the next.  Fortunately it's only with her parents and brother that we see the more challenging side of Sam.  To everyone else she is charming, agreeable and happy.  Her 3rd grade teacher absolutely loves her and can't stop telling me how funny she is.

If Samantha wants to do something, she will give it her all; whether it be a project for school, getting dressed for an outing, or reading a book she is interested in. Samantha will surprise us and show us what she is truly capable of.  However, if Samantha has no desire to do something, there is no amount of motivation or encouragement you can give her to get it done. It's like pulling teeth and the task will be met with much strife.  We realized this school year the best way to tackle a big project is to break it into little manageable pieces.  It keeps Sam from getting overwhelmed and hopefully the meltdowns at bay.

Jeff is excellent at keeping us in check when it seems like I've gotten carried away with scheduling and wanting to do it all.  He is able to reign me in and thus, potential future meltdowns are at a minimum.  I truly feel we've gotten a better handle on how much Sam can manage and what may put her over the edge.  Actually, let me correct that last statement.  Jeff has a better handle.  I am still a work in progress.  A really great example of this in action is when we had the opportunity to schedule two Broadway musicals in the same day for an upcoming trip to New York.  I felt if we made sure to have a nap or some major downtime in between the two shows we could do it all and not have to chose. "Go BIG or go home" is my motto in NY -- well, pretty much anywhere. :)   Jeff, however, was the voice of reason and said this was going to be difficult for Sam to sit thru and be well behaved -- which is key among an audience of theatre-goers especially when paying those high ticket prices.  Overall, this has been a good year for setting Sam up for success and not failure.  Plus, having Lucy has been a big blessing in keeping her emotional outbursts less of an explosion. 

This past year Samantha decided to continue her horseback riding lessons.  It's truly awesome to see her shine and see all her 'moods' disappear as she rides.  The confidence, self-esteem and the skills she is learning to control her horse is priceless.  Sam also participated in Girls Run for Fun through her school's extracurricular program in the Fall and again in the Spring.  It's a great activity that meets twice a week and gets the girls to be able to run a 5k.  Additionally Sam ran in the Cherry Blossom Kid's fun run at the beginning of April.  I am so proud of her for wanting to do this.

Samantha is going away to camp for entire month this Summer and can't wait to get going.  Unlike her brother the amount of time she will be gone is not too long and she doesn't need me to write her daily or send packages in the mail.  Sam's got this and it's one step closer to her living on her own. :)

There is one area that I feel Samantha would do amazing in and really excel...acting!   If Samantha entered the theatre program Ian is in, I have no doubt she would become a star.  Let her put all that drama she has in her to good use. Unfortunately, I've had no luck convincing her to give acting a try.

A few weeks ago I took Sam by herself down to Orlando with me for my sister's baby shower.  We had a great time and I loved traveling with her.  From Thursday afternoon to Monday afternoon, I had a very loveable, happy go-lucky Samantha and it was delightful.   It was the best and I wish all our days could be like this.

I wish for Samantha a very happy birthday and a fantastic 9th year.  May her reasons to smile outnumber her reasons to yell.  May her days be filled with sunny skies and an endless number of cute outfits to wear, where the decision on what to wear doesn't involve me. Daddy and I love you so very much! 

First day of third grade!

Sam started her eighth year getting her ears pierced!