The Joy of Six...

Halloween at Jenna's...

It's almost Halloween, and Jenna has her place decked-out in true ghostly/goblin/witchy fashion.  She's a collector....like me.  But I think she's actually worse than I am...especially when it comes to Halloween.  It's her favorite time...so she's got EVERYTHING on display; and loves having it all out....including a few cauldrons of candy.  I don't know who gets to benefit from it all....except the few of us who go to her apartment.  Ideally, she would love to have her neices and nephew in town to join in the festivities....and believe me they all would love to see all of Aunt Jenna's goodies; but it wouldn't bother her if noone came over...she really does it for herself.   I swear you could get whiplash trying to take it all in.  One thing I know...it's always a Happy Halloween at Jenna's place.  Check it out....(click on photos to enlarge.)

 

 

 

 

Happy Halloween Everyone....Trick or Treat!!  Maybe I'll get more kids this year.  Once again I bought way too much candy...I'm hopeless.  ~Joy  xo

 

 

 

 

 

My Perfect Halloween....revisited

I’ll wait ‘til it’s dark so they can’t make me out;

Masking my face as I go on my route;

But I need to see clearly as I walk ‘cross the grass;

‘Cause I don’t want to trip and fall flat on my ass.

 

I’ll need a good costume with much stronger seams;

Not some thin, flimsy get-up I’ve seen at Walgreens.

I can go as a pumpkin or a ghost or a hag,

Or cut holes in a Hefty…as a Lipton tea bag.                                                             

I’ll need to wear comfortable shoes on my feet

If I’m planning to go beyond my own street.

I can’t take a chance of what others will say

If my moaning and groaning should give me away.                                       

I’ll need to walk faster to catch up to the throng,

And grab up my share before the candy is gone.

I’ll say ‘Trick or Treat’ just like back in the days

When I was a pro in all Halloween ways.                                                                

I’ll have a strong bag for the length of my trip;

For I can’t take a chance of having it rip;

And all of my goodies be strewn everywhere.

I might bend down to get them; but I just might stay there.                                                                                                   

What true trick-or-treater would stop to help out

'That strange limpy kid with the big whiney pout.'

I have to be ready for any such crash,

Or my treats could wind up in some other stash.                                                       

And when I’m successfully done with my night,

I need to head back in the shards of the light.

I need to get home and look all about

For signs of the goblins while I was out.                                                

Like shaving cream messages all over my hood;

And eggs on my windshield….‘Oh, someone was good.’

And tee-peed trees everywhere to be seen.

It’s how I remember…..I love HALLOWEEN.

                                                         ~Joy

Medically Sane??

Oy, why does it take so long to get medical results back?  I've gone through a battery of tests lately only to find out that I'm falling apart at an alarming rate.  Did I REALLY need to know that?  Yeah, these tests show signs of aging and little medical issues that I was hoping I wouldn't have to become aware of for many years to come.  But NOOOOOO, they have to show their ugly little heads already....while I still garner a shred of hope that I'm NOT totally over the hill yet.   The results that I was most concerned about came back favorably....well, I'm still waiting for one.   Looks like I'll live to crab about things a while longer. (My kids would hate hearing me talk like this.)  And I'd say to them what I say to myself.....'Well, it is what it is...'

Hope you all are having a great week.... Love,  Joy

The Autumns of Life....revisited

It's fall...and I'm thinking about Joel...as I do every Autumn.  I first posted this in the fall of 2008. A couple of revisions have been added.

We loved the Fall, he and I. 

 

We met in the Autumn of 1967 while we were both working for major Chicago newspapers; I as the Receptionist of the National Advertising Department and secretary for the Financial Division, and he as a salesman for the Retail Advertising Department...and all around comedian.  We were young, we worked together, we dated, it was downtown Chicago, it was Lake Michigan, it was the Skyline, it was exciting.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got married in the Autumn of 1968….early November.  He always remembered it because it was the day before his beloved Marine Birthday Ball.  Even for November it was the perfect Fall day, sunny and crisp.  I remember thinking as I walked out the front door of my house on the way to the church how lucky we were to still have the glorious colors of most of the leaves.  The days around the wedding had been colder…more like the onset of winter; but the actual wedding day itself was so awesomely autumn.  My brother walked me down the aisle, my dad was on my mind; and at the reception, they played our song...'Cast Your Fate To The Wind.'  

By now we were finding out one thing…life was happening very quickly for us.   In the Fall of 1969 I was in my brother’s wedding and was pregnant with my first child.  We had hardly gotten to experience married life together, and now we were adding a little one to the mix.  It was life…..and we were ready for it all.   I remember my tummy pooching out in my bride’s maid dress.  Mine was a gorgeous deep gold.  We all had fall colors….like leaves.  The dresses were beautiful….and I was beaming. 

In the Fall of 1970 when our baby girl was around 8 or 9 months old, we bought our first home….a two-bedroom townhouse.   It was very close to the apartment we had in a north shore suburb of Chicago near Lake Michigan.  There we would stay for seven very happy and busy years.  That little townhouse would manage to take care of us better than I could have ever imagined.  We certainly used every square inch it had to give.  In 1972 we added two more baby girls to our clan; and after a few months, that second bedroom got pretty crowded.  Then in 1976 we had our Finale…..when our son was born and took up residence in our room.  It was becoming pretty obvious to us what had to happen next…..

In the Fall of 1977 we bought a new home right in the next town…..the home I still reside in.  One might say I’m not big on moving….and one would be right.  Here is where we spent most of our Autumns….and every other season.  In this home for thirty-four years of my life.... my children’s lives, it’s hard to imagine being anyplace else. 

                                                    

So many great Autumns of baseball games and soccer games and sailing and school activities and dances and carnivals and  bridge parties and play dates and Halloweens and scout meetings and football games and La Crosse games and rehearsals and sleepovers and birthday parties and road trips and game nights and shopping sprees and movies and gymnastics and volleyball and school committees and YWCA games and Thanksgiving dinners and……

Those autumns go by, and those children grow up….much faster than we could ever imagine.  They are adults with incredibly busy lives.  They have left pieces of the past all over this old house.  When they come to visit…especially the long-distanced twins…they relish in going through all the things I’ve kept ‘in tact’ for them.  Pieces of ‘their history.’  I’ve got it all.  It’s like visiting a museum.                                                                                                                                              

In the Fall of 2000 our daughter, Julie, got married and had one of the most beautiful and touching weddings I can remember….right here in the northern suburbs of Chicago….on the grounds of the Evanston Historical Society.  Six years to the day her twin sister, Jory, followed suit when she got married in the Fall of 2006 in the tree-lined hills of Mendocino County, California.  It was breathtakingly beautiful.  And just like Julie’s wedding, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

But there was ONE who had missed the journey from Julie’s day to Jory’s day.   ONE who would have been proudly crying in the front row.  ONE very obvious traveler who had missed several of our beautiful autumns….autumns that we so loved.  Autumns that he loved to sail the whole weekend away and forget about life's woes…where the water and the wind came together and cured everything. 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Autumn of 2005 was the one truly sad autumn of my life that I can remember.  It took his life from us….he who started out this journey with me.  He didn’t get to cry at Jory’s wedding.  He didn’t get to see his grandson or the addition of his newest granddaughter.   He didn't get to sail any more peaceful waters.  He didn’t get to finish the journey….and he didn’t get to see any more Autumns.  He just slowly slipped away....like a leaf in the wind.       

 

An Olive in the Pumpkin Patch

It's her second official Halloween, but Olive didn't join in the festivities last year...being only 1 1/2 months old.  This year however, she's going to wear a costume and go Trick or Treating with mom and dad.  Liv even got to pick a pumpkin out for herself...almost as big as she is.  Can't wait to see what she's going to be.  I've seen some really adorable costumes...lots of fruits and veggies...like a pea pod, carrot, pumpkin, tomato, banana, etc.   Hey, how about an Olive?

 

 

 

Why Parents Drink

The boss wondered why one of his most valued employees was absent but had not phoned in sick one day. Needing to have an urgent problem with one of the main computers resolved, he dialed the employee's home phone number and was greeted with a child's whisper. 

  'Hello?'

'Is your daddy home?' he asked.

'Yes,' whispered the small voice.

 May I talk with him?'

The child whispered, 'No.'

Surprised and wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked, 'Is your Mommy there?'

 'Yes.'

'May I talk with her?'

Again the small voice whispered, 'No.'

Hoping there was somebody with whom he could leave a message, the boss asked, 'Is anybody else there?' 

The child whispered, 'a policeman.'

Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee's home, the boss asked, 'May I speak with the policeman?'

'No, he's busy,' whispered the child.

'Busy doing what?'

'Talking to Daddy and Mommy and the Fireman,'  came the whispered answer.

Growing more worried as he heard a loud noise in the background through the earpiece on the phone, the boss asked, 'What is that noise?'

'A helicopter,' answered the whispering voice.

'What is going on there?' demanded the boss, now truly apprehensive. 

Again, whispering, the child answered, 'The search team just landed a  helicopter.'

Alarmed, concerned and a little frustrated the boss asked, 'What are they searching for?'

Still whispering, the young voice replied with a muffled giggle... 'ME.'