For posterity

I post only so that I can remember all that is happening. It is happening quite fast. After yearsw of thinking about remodeling, making excuses for not remodeling, lacking the courage to undertake the remodeling, being ambivalent about remodeling, and being downright too cheap, we finally took the plunge. The great remodel of the back bathroom, our master bathroom, and [drum roll] . . . the kitchen has begun.

The work actually started last Monday, September 20, with the demolition of the back bathroom. We left that morning, and by the afternoon, everything except the tub was gone. The next day, Bruce and Nellie replaced old insulation and damaged drywall.

Then came Wednesday and demolition of the kitchen. Bruce and Nellie don't play! We left that morning, and by the afternoon, all the old cabinets were out, the built-in china cabinet gone, the flooring removed, and the appliances in the dumpster. The kitchen was just a shell.

Thursday, new drywall in the kitchen, measurements for the pass-through and the mud guys started their work. Those guys work hard for their money. As we sat cackling over mindless TV, they were prepping the drywall and texturing the back bathroom and kitchen. I don't know what happened on Friday because I left for the recruiting forum in LA. but I believe the mud guys finished texturing both the back bath and the kitchen.

Yesterday was too exciting for words! We stayed up late Sunday emptying our bathroom cabinets. On Monday when I left, the kitchen was still little more than a shell; the back bath was a shell, and our bathroom had all the old cabinets and counters. When I arrived home, it was as though the remodeling fairy waved her magic wand! New kitchen cabinets were set; the back bath cabinets were set, and the old vanities in our bath were removed and new doors for some cabinets and the new vanity cabinets were set. Cabinets, cabinets everywhere! It was so much fun finding the little design touches that we weren't expecting. The 45 degree angles on the bottoms of base cabinets; the end panels with the same detail as the doors; the new end cabinet for the telephone books and other stuff. It was quite exciting to see the new drawers in places that we hadn't had them before. Plus, the crown moulding was installed in the kitchen and back bathroom.

Tonight as I sit recording this at 9 pm, the mud/paint guys are priming the cabinets. Bruce and Nellie finished the demolition of our bathroom earlier in the day, replaced damaged drywall, installed can lights in the kitchen, and the plumber was here.

There are boxes everywhere, but this too shall pass. And we'll have a pretty new kitchen plus updated bathrooms to boot.

What a difference 18 years makes?

We watched Home Alone 2 this weekend with the younger BoilerBabies. It was released 18 years ago, so it's not exactly a revelation of Biblical proportions that there have been some noticeable changes since then. But some of those changes are reminders of how fast things have changed.

The McCallister family is headed on vacation, and they have airline tickets! Not e-tickets, but the real paper tickets in an airline envelope, something the younger BBs have never seen and the older ones probably don't remember.

O'Hare Airport looks a little dated, but what's particularly striking is how quickly a huge family gets through security. Of course, this was before 9/11. There was no requirement to show a government-issued ID, slip one's shoes off, and submit to a full-body scan before heading to the gate. And had little Kevin ran onto a plane without a valid boarding pass in today's world, he might have experienced a quick introduction to the air marshals. Kevin's visit to the Twin Towers drove home the point of the setting being in a pre-9/11 world.

Finally, as usual, the technology establishes its own time stamp. There are some large, clunky electronic things, but it was Kevin's Polaroid camera that brought on the nostalgia. "Shake it like a Polaroid picture" just can't have the same meaning now that Polaroid cameras are obsolete.

There may be other things that I missed, given that as usual, I was multi-tasking (a phrase that might not have been in common parlance when the movie was released), but this I know: the kids laughed just as much as if the movie had been released last week.

Omigosh, I am SO old??

In just 2 hours and 11 minutes, Iwill no longer start my age with the digit "4." This is my last day in my 40s, and I'm okay with that.

When I was a child, 20-somethings were big people, adults, that is until I got to my 20s and felt like an imposter playing dress-up. Then 30 seemed so old--until I got to 30. It seemed anti-climactic in fact. The only thing that changed was that I stopped adding a year to my age with each birthday. I realized it when I started to tell someone I was 30 when in fact I was 33. Oops!

The age of 40 was even more anticlimactic. There was too much going on. The most memorable thing about 40 was that I was stung by a bee, for the first time ever, on my birthday. Lucky me.

So what thoughts do I have about turning 50? Well, it sounds really, really old. Fifty years. One-half century. Old enough to be a member of AARP. Senior discounts, here I come!

Plus, so much has happened that when related to younger folk, it makes me sound old. I have an adult child, for goodness sake! In my lifetime, I've seen the advent of cheap electronics, from calculators ($400 when I started high school) to the home computer. My iPhone has more functionality than the computers aboard the first Apollo space ships. Oh, and there was that first moon-landing that I witnessed live.

I would sound like an old fogey should I start to talk about the price of things "back in the day." I'll be able to regale my grandchildren with stories of purchasing 45s for 99 cents and LPs for $7.00 ($12.00 for double albums). Oh yes, I can remember when candy bars were 10 cents and even a nickel bought a bag of penny candy. Fifty cents bought enough candy to share with the neighborhood.

On a more serious note, I was born into a country where it was perfectly legal to discriminate against Blacks and women for no other reason than that they were Blacks and women. Only as an adult did I apprecate my mother's accomplishment in being able to qualify for mortgage as a widowed, Black woman. That didn't occur until after the passage of the various civil rights acts, but discrimination was so endemic that obtaining a loan with three strikes against her (female, single, and Black) was almost unheard of at that time.

Had I grown up in the South, I might have sipped from the water fountain set aside for "Negroes." I was 6 or 7 years old before the Supreme Court decided Loving v. Virginia. Women lawyers (or for that matter, female bus drivers) were rare, virtually an object of curiosity.

I suppose I could go on, but the simple fact is a lot has happened. But . . . I don't feel my age. I started this morning with a walk/run in which I felt great! Endorphins are my friends. My mother, God bless her, couldn't run 50 yards when she was 50 years old. On a good day, I can jog three miles, and four miles on a really good day.

I have no grandchildren, and no expectation of any anytime soon. I do have, however, a six-year old. Plus, I'm still too young to qualify for the best senior citizen discounts.

So, tomorrow, I cross an artificial and arbitrary line. But the simple fact is that life (God willing) goes on and life is good. I expect that there will be little difference between today and tomorrow, besides a little cake (okay a lotta cake) and ice cream.

Adventures in Fourth Grade

This post is a sequel to an earlier post. This time, BB3 is the reporter. According to her, Nick, another fourth grader, was pretending to stick his finger far up his nose, when lo and behold Nate came along and bumped Nick, causing Nick to jam his finger so deep into his nose that he couldn't get it out.

I kid you not.

This incident resulted in a visit to the school nurse, who I'm sure never expected that extracting fingers from noses was part of her job description.

My children's school is rated "exemplary" based on its standardized testing scores, but recent events cast doubt on that rating. I think that the teachers are teaching the three Rs which is good, but they just might want to add a lesson or two on the importance of not sticking things in ones ear or nose.

Just sayin'.

A Night to Remember

It's pretty special anytime someone opens their home for a homemade meal of beef tenderloin, macaroni and cheese, peppermint cucumbers, salad, yeast rolls, and chocolate cake with strawberries and fresh whipped cream.

It's particularly special when that someone is former U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun. Yesterday evening with Senator/Soror Braun was the highlight of the 30 year reunion in Chicago of my college sorority line sisters.

Given her prominence as a former senator and former ambassador to New Zealand, her connections to both Pres. Clinton and Pres. Obama, not to mention her many and varied accomplishments, she could be forgiven for not wanting to give us the time of day. Instead, she was gracious, down-to-earth, funny, and insightful. And we learned that Senator Braun can "bust a move!"

We have my soror, Maria, to thank for the invitation. Five years ago, Maria did a favor for Senator Braun, and Senator Braun promised Maria that she had a friend for life. Senator Braun was true to her word so that when Maria called Carol to say that we would be in Chicago for the weekend, Carol suggested that we have a get-together at her house.

For lots of reasons, we had a weekend that won't soon be forgotten.

I am an April Fool

I actually flirted with the idea of pulling an April Fool's prank, but too much to do, so little time. So it was only a fleeting thought, and it was gone for good--or so I thought.

BB1, nearing the finish line of her 17 years of education, called mid-morning. She sounded distraught from the word "hello." She explained that her college had sent her an email informing her that she was one class shy of graduating. According to the message, she would be able to take the course in the Fall and graduate in December.

My blood ran cold. She'd lose her job, scheduled to start in June! She'd be delayed six months! She'd lose face! We couldn't move her off the family payroll!

"What?? How could this happen," I inquired. She wailed as only she can, "I don't know-w-w!" We ended the call quickly because of her professed need to get to class and her promise to try to sort it out and call me back later.

Two minutes later I get the text message, "April fools!!!"

I've got a whole year to come up with the mother of all (get it!?!) pranks. Payback.

My Most Brilliant Idea Ever

Sometimes the stars collide and the result is a brilliant idea. The first star in this impending collision: I just finished reading all 1000+ pages of Gone with the Wind. Consequently, I have a slightly better understanding of why the Waco Cotton Palace endures to this day. The Antebellum South--that bygone era when there was Southern hospitality, lovely barbecues, balls, and beautiful dresses to wear to the balls. Life would be grand for anyone who sipped mint juleps at the expense of someone else's involuntary servitude. But I digress.

The second star in this collision: Anthony, that Southern Belle extraordinare of Project Runway fame, was auf'd this week. He might have a little free time on his hands.

Now for the brilliant idea. Anthony, a self-avowed "queen" seems like the perfect person to be Waco Cotton Queen! What could be better? And he could dress the "princesses" and "duchesses." No more boring (read "ugly") hoop skirts. Haute couture for all!

There are a few problems, I admit. First, so far, traditionally (as in every year), the Cotton Queen ("CQ") has been a high school senior. I think that Anthony is a bit old for the role.

Second, tradionally (as in every year), the CQ has been a female. Anthony is probably far more engaging than most would-be CQs, but maybe the accomplished old businessman who wears the Cotton King crown, might object to "Queen Anthony."

Third, traditionally (as in every year), the CQ is from Old Waco Money. I don't know much about Anthony's background, but I'm guessing he might have a problem with the "Old," the "Waco," and the "Money" part.

Perhaps the biggest problem (bigger than even the gender problem) is that (gasp!) Anthony is, shall we say, a Negro. Traditionally (as in always), African American girls aren't invited to participate in Cotton Palace.

I get it. If the idea is to celebrate that South that has "gone with the wind," then it would be inauthentic to include blacks as princesses or duchesses, let alone CQ. That is the reality of Cotton Palace in 2010 in Waco.

But with the new millenium being ten years old, time for a new direction.

Anthony for Cotton Queen. That's my new campaign!

Should I be offended or just confused?

Yesterday I sent a message to students from Blackboard, a system provided by the University. Normally, Blackboard also sends a copy to my work e-mail address, also provided by the University. However, yesterday, I noticed that I didn't get a copy of the Blackboard message.

What possibly could have happened?

Simple answer: my message from me to me, had been relegated to the Junk Mail file.

My e-mail account thinks I'm junk! I'm no different than the off-shore schemers who claim to be ready to deposit millions of dollars into my bank account and the peddlers of male enhancement products.

I think I'm confused--and offended.

Y'all come back now, ya hear?

That's all I've got to say to the Eagles. Somehow I don't think McNabb will be relishing his return visit to Dallas for the first play-off game. .

Truth be known, I don't have the kind of confidence in the 'boys like I did in the 1990s. It's hard to beat any NFL team 3 times in one season. And Tony Romo is no Troy Aikman or Roger Staubach. So the Eagles may have the last laugh when it's all said and done.

But I'm going to gloat while the gloatin' is good.