And so it goes...

The Big Apple

So Monday, we rush into Manhattan to meet Caleb and catch up with Bob who was at a business meeting.  The hotel is serviceable - REASONABLY priced for NYC and in a great location.  There really wasn't much time to do anything so I went to a cafe for a glass of wine and to finish reading Harry Potter.  We met Skylar's friend Chris for Chinese, which was pretty good. The BEST though, was going to Serendipity (across from Bloomingdale's) for desert. This my friends is a frozen hot chocolate and just to die for... I think it was on one of Oprah's best of shows.  We've been eating them for years and can't figure out how to make it the same delicious at home.

Tuesday Andy and Chad went to Doughnut plant then met Caleb, Jessie and me at the Empire State Building and we bought some tour tickets. (and what you see here isn't all of them either!) I had a hard time figuring out which tour package to buy  and by the time we decided what tour tickets we wanted the line was SO long that we just bagged it and met Bob for lunch at Penn Station. He had a meeting out on Long Island.  There use to be a great oyster bar there when I went to school (boarding school out on Long Island) but it was long gone. Thankfully there was a really great seafood spot in it's place.

We all bought Yankee stuff (sorry my dear Detroit Tigers!!!), toured the Empire State Building (I'm assuming all y'all know what it looks like!), went back to the hotel to change and an early dinner. We went to see Avenue Q on Broadway. It was just hilarious - sort of an adult Sesame Street (yes, with muppets but you see the puppeteers!).

Did I mention the weather in NYC was just ungodly hot and humid? For this I could have stayed home... but, Oh wait...  it gets better!  Thank Goodness I bought all those tickets that the kids laughed about because Tuesday night it rained and flooded the subways! You could not get around the city by subway, the cabs (what few there were) all had fares and even the buses weren't around because they had flood issues too! So Wednesday the only way any of us got around was by the double decker tour bus.  Chad and Andy went their own way - and Bob and I had a nice lunch alone at a cafe, then met up with Caleb and Jessie for the downtown and Harlem tour. Now I admit that there are three Kutcher girls loose in NYC with cameras... the ONLY same photo we took was the one of the Courthouse from the opening scenes of Law and Order!

ARRRGGHHH! Have to leave now - more next week when I get home from my trip!

                                                                                                                                                                                          

So much to say - so little time...

The other day I was on the phone with a friend of mine and we were discussing our days. Judy said she had lists of things to do everyday and was busy, busy, busy, but at the end of the day really accomplished nothing.  I commiserated with her and mentioned that what I found difficult is I would be doing something in one room- note that I needed something from, oh say the laundry room (where we keep the tools... at least some of them) go to the laundry room, (walking through the kitchen I would note a spot on the counter, clean that, oh and a dish in the sink - into the dishwasher and maybe dry out the sink) get to the laundry room find I have to change out loads... completely forget why I was there...

This came to a scary fruition yesterday.  Skylar is home from Australia (yippeee) and comes to me yesterday (just as we were getting ready for a crab boil for 25 people) and says... "Mom... where are my Saints tickets?" Oh! "not to worry I said - when I was arranging your room for the painters to come in I thought it would be best to put them in a safe place". Uh, yeah maybe.... sort of looked around Saturday before people came and didn't really panic until today. LOGICALLY, I would have moved them to Bob's desk. That's like the safety deposit box of the house. Clean and neat and ridiculously tidy ALL the time. So that is where I would put something that important. 

NOT THERE!!!!!  YIKES!!!! So, I'm thinking - ok where I put my jewelry... not there - long story short (too late!) I'm quietly tearing Sky's room a part and no luck... I walk out the door and there, on the bookcase in the hall (ever so safe! lol) were his two packs of tickets.  <sigh> I guess I put them there to take to 1) Bob's office or 2) the jewelry safe place and forgot.  I really need to start making notes about what I do... like a voice activated tape recorder attached to my arm...'cause I'd surely lose a paper list!

So I'm two big posts behind... I'll now start with the first - The Big Apple with the kids. Bob, Chad, Andy and I flew up to NY to meet JC, Erin and the grand boys (Lolly too) at the hotel in Monticello. We were also meeting Jessie there - she had just finished up her stint as a counselor at the Sports Academy. All went well and surprise! lots of the family was there that weekend.

The hotel (Kutsher's Country Club, www.kutshers.com ) is celebrating its 100th year in business.  The weekend we were there a feature article on Aunt Helen (far right) was in the newspaper... it was great. Harriet (in purple) has been with the hotel and family so long, she is family.  Then on the far left is Bob's cousin Mady... holding our newest grand baby Benjamin. In the back are Mark (Helen's son and Mady's brother) and Bob in his summer madras. For some reason I don't have any group shots of the whole family - just kind of random shots... I really need to figure out how to do that Flicker or collage thing here... maybe some time when I get my life back!

 

We got up to the hotel in time for dinner (we all run on our stomaches in this family!) and gathered in the office (picture above) after wards. We went to see Freddie Roman at the nightclub and he really was very funny. The next day was (of course) golf, breakfast, lunch and the outdoor pool.  That's Jake and Ben - isn't that "thing" Ben in so cool??? It's like a personal house boat!  Jake has been swimming for about 3 years now and does really well, but I figured I wouldn't bore y'all with those pictures!

The afternoon ( I swear being at KCC is like going on a cruise...) is not complete without a visit to the coffee shop where Jake had made friends with the waitress... his shake was HUGE! I think Lolly and Chad were napping during this... some people just don't know how to pace themselves!

Bob grew up here, living in a small house on the property with his Aunt and Uncle and 3 cousins (and his Mom and Dad!) which is why he doesn't have much in the way of domestic abilities... all services (housekeeping, the kitchen, maintenance) were all at the end of a phone.  These days the person at the end of "the phone" is me!

Ok... little tired so I'll finish this tomorrow... and hopefully also post photos of the crab party - what a hoot!

THANK YOU

So it's the second "anniversary" of Katrina. I had hope to do something profound or at least amusing... but then I picked up the paper. The headline simply says THANK YOU. There are a few random stories from evacuees about small kindnesses they received.  I cried. Made it through all the stupid programs and I cry at the newspaper headline.  It was just so PERFECT.

Today shouldn't have been about us... we're trying to move forward, but none of us could do this with out the help of strangers. More than a MILLION people have come to New Orleans to volunteer to help gut and repair homes. Which brings me to yet another thank you to all of you out there still reading that helped our family.  Frankly, I don't know anybody else who received the out pouring of help that we did. And again, I truly don't know what we would have done with out all y'all.

There could be a list here of all the generous and kind hearted people who helped us, but invariably I would leave some people out and there would be hurt feelings.  So, I just want you to know your kindness and generosity have not been lost on me.  I have been paying it forward.  I remember.  We remember.  It's engraved in my heart and soul.

In the Jewish religion the highest mitzvah (good deed) you can do is for some one you don't know and you tell no one about it.  I'm going to slip a degree in my good deed to share them with you.  I have been paying it forward. First to a woman who lost her house (and scrap room) to a fire.  The second a woman who lives in lower Indiana who lost her scrap/office to the horrible storms/floods etc they have been having there.  I am going to publish their addresses, although I am not so sure I should do that... probably get into big trouble, but I am appealing to y'all to RAK  (Random Acts of Kindness - NOT Robert Allen Kutcher!) these women who are so deserving. 

Jackie Cummings

52 Old Chester Road

Goshen, NY 01924

I don't know much about Jackie, she's on a Yahoo list for Ranger Ink products and Altered art.  She's a big stamper and saved some of her stamps because they were in bins. But most everything else was destroyed by the smoke. She was very touched and grateful for the box of product I sent her.

Sandy McBeth on the other hand... well, I know lots more about her. Sandy is the mother of 5, grandmother of 9. She runs a licensed day care from her home, something she took on after being a Parent Aid for the Indiana welfare system for years. She made this turn after she found herself in court testifying more than in homes helping parents. She lost all of her stickers and cardstock, the paper she had collected for her daughter's wedding album and all of her holiday patterned paper.  Her kids have done sports, (football, swim team and soccer), band, girl scouts and like most scrappers I know is years behind. One of the scrapbooks she lost was a 7 x 7 grandbaby book she was working on. 

When I read her post on a teachers (scrapbooking) Yahoo list, I contacted her privately.  It took her forever to write me back because she came her and read my blog.  She too is having a hard time "taking" things from people.  Her husband says "she'd give away the house" if he didn't watch out...but after reading what our family went through... she felt better about accepting the kindness of strangers. And she sent supplies to the Katrina victims... So, coming full circle

Sandy McBeth

709 E. Locust Street

Petersburg, IN 47567

Again, many, much heart felt thanks for all of you who helped our family when we evacuated to Dallas, those who have helped other Katrina victims/causes.  Y'all are really the Saints here.  A million volunteers... go figure - so many good souls out there.  Thank you for coming here.

BOY IS IT HOT!

Short little post so y'all don't think I'm dead. Mercy is it hot.  We were in New York last week (everyone but Skylar who is winging his way to Australia) at the family hotel.  GOOD GRIEF - for this I could have stayed home! In fact, I'm not sure I've ever been in New Orleans when it has been 91 degrees AT SEVEN AT NIGHT! What's with THAT?  Oy the city was a misery, schelpping around sight seeing in the heat.  And of course we were there when THEY got 3 inches of rain and drown the subway system. OY OY OY! Not a cab forever! 

We did have a very good time really and I'm going through the photos and those I'll post this week... Man I can't believe how big Jake and Benjamin are!!!

Oh, and after that I'm going to be quiet for a bit longer.  I can't believe the second anniversary (if one can call it that) of Katrina is coming closer.  I decided to go back and do comparison shots from the flood, when we came home and now... so you can judge for yourselves how far we have come.

Later Gators...

last night

Last night the news had a feature about a family in the Lower 9th ward who made a request to have storm debris removed from their home.  They were one of the few whose house was structurally sound and they had gutted it to go forward with repairs and renovations. They showed up to work on it the other day to find it had been torn down. Not even a slab! They have no answers. Not from FEMA, not from City Hall.  It wasn't on the blighted list, they had paid their taxes and were just waiting for the road home money. They interviewed the home owner and his mother. His grandmother built the house. His mother said all of her children were conceived and raised there. Now it is gone.  My heart broke for these people until ...

The bridge collapse.  My God. For any of y'all out there in that area please know that my thoughts and prayers are with your community and all of those families affected.  The news has been saying that tragedies like these bring communities together. And I am here to tell you that they do. There is an invisible linking of arms that bonds us all here - and I am sure that is what is going on there too.  How ever long your healing takes, you will forever be bonded to those people. I watched an interview with one of the Fire department chiefs - and he welled up with tears and the reporter finished the interview. Our first responders are still like this too.  It is a forever thing.

It is awful that something horrible has to happen to bring the community together... but those communities that have gone through shootings, collapses, earthquakes, fire, tornadoes and hurricanes... well, y'all know what I'm talking about.

Prayers going out to them all. The victims, the families and our first responders.

Soooo LONG!

It has been so long since I've posted, but there hasn't been much of anything going on. Andy, Chad and some friends were in two weekends ago for a wedding... that went pretty well - Parrot got thrown out of a kareoke bar for sleeping on the couch and no one knew where he went... a minor incident in the annals of French Quarter stories a la Kutcher.  There was a photo of Andy, Bob and I at dinner - but for the life of me I can't figure out where it's filed. (Found it!)

We were at a little place in the French Quarter called the Redfish Grill. If you go WAY back in the archives,(you remember - when my posts were interesting!) it was one of the first "real" restaurants we went to when we came home.

http://reneekutcher.typepad.com/and_so_it_goes/2005/week42/index.html

More importantly, it felt like home again.  There were street musicians (I do believe these guys were trying to make money for their school band uniforms and YES of COURSE I gave them money) and the Lucky Dog carts were back out.

Skylar finished the Bar exam (9 parts, 3 days!) and I was in Baton Rouge with Carla for the weekend.  Probably not such a bad thing as I suspect he was having "too much fun" for a few days. Andy and Chad were nice enough to come down to celebrate with him - and Bob came back from NYC as well.  Funny that - Bob would call me in the evenings (when he is out of town to catch up) - that took all of about 2 minutes.  Then he would ask for Skylar and they would be on the phone for 20 minutes! I swear they will get their own table at holiday meals now.  He's in NYC now for a wedding, will be back for a day then off to Australia for a month... LUCKY HIM!

Bob's been busy prepping witnesses for depositions this week so Skylar and I have been dining together a LOT.  We went out to a noodle house the other night and Sky had a trifecta of Katrina drinks. Road Home, FEMA and I forget the other one... but they were pretty gross. Good looking but not worth ordering a second one.

This week is - well actually tomorrow - is really exciting since the decorative painter (the one I've been waiting for going on 2 years now) will be starting on the furniture. OH! That means I have to take before and after pictures! The glass guy is coming by too -to "take ONE more measurement" for the glass counter top in the kitchen (also going on 2 years) that is rumored to be in SC getting fabricated. AND my dining room table is suppose to be returned from the refinisher's.  THAT I've been waiting on since before Katrina!  (wish I had him take it before - it cost me twice as much now!). 

After the 9th the "real" painter will be coming to do the base coat for the decorative painter (Madelyn) to do our bedroom and bath and Skylar's bedroom... and he'll finish Andy's bedroom.  Am thinking of painting Jessie's room green instead of the red it is now - but am pretty happy with how the red looks.   Pretty much after that will be the window treatments - but I think my drapery guy has forgotten all about us!  Almost - ALMOST there.  Now just to figure out what to do with all the junk we have collected in the living and dining rooms... Guess that'll have to wait until Sky moves out in September and Andy goes back to school.  Why do I see a series of eBay auctions in my future?

Fun thing - last weekend while I was away I did nothing but play with product - no scrapbooking pages or anything, just fun stuff.  Here's a purse I did - it's not finished by a long shot and I still have to do the interior - but it was really fun just playing around!

Mystery solved...

Sorry to be so quiet - but there is nothing new to chat about... at least nothing interesting. No photos either.  Bob is still working his butt off, the Bar exam starts Monday for Skylar, the girls are still gone and I'm still trying to clean up my scrap office... That actually sounds like it wouldn't be so hard, but I've now started collecting vintage ephemera* for some altered art projects.  *old papers, photos, watch parts, tickets, etc. etc. The daily "stuff" that makes up your life. My family doesn't know I'm actually paying for "junk" and that's my little secret.

This week though the mystery of the laundry room mischief has been solved.  Pretty much in the summer it will rain everyday. Sometimes in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon, a little, a lot and sometimes with thunder and lighting.  I came home last Thursday and lo and behold General had pulled the front panel on his crate INTO the crate and escaped... how he did that we can't really figure out - because the panel would have fallen in on him - but escape he did. He really quakes when ever it is storming - or even simply raining!

Now at first glance you might think that this is pretty much the same photo from last time - but it is NOT. He did leave the lower left cubby pretty much alone, but this time he cleared off the countertop too!  There were paw prints every where!  So Mr. General was given a doggy time out.  We still can't figure out how he managed to pull the crate front off.

So, that's pretty much the news from here. We're still waiting for the kitchen bar top.  Andy is coming home with friends tonight... and that's it.

Oh - FEMA... did y'all read that for the last 2 years Fema has been trucking multiple loads of ice around the country? Same load(s) of ice... and these were meant for New Orleans after Katrina! So the tax payers of the US have been paying $900 a DAY for TWO years to keep this ice cold SOME where in the US. And last week (at least I think it was last week) they decided that it was no longer fit for human consumption.  At least when they get rid of it, it will be in a reservoir in California where they need water. Millions people... for ice that never got here.

Oh... and hard to believe, but the alcohol inks did not do one darned thing to the couch! Yippee - so Milton is still alive and well.

Creepy!!!

Ok - so here's the thing... there were three very creepy things that happened today.  Pretty much when something weird happens we can figure out what dog did what and laugh about it... this was just too damned eerie.  Here's what I found in my laundry room.  Mind you it was perfectly fine at 10:30 when I went out to do errands and all...   All the stuff that has been pulled out and all over the floor was in those little cubby holes.  And what's with the ONE can of paint still on the shelf?  We speculated a lot about what happened, but just can't put any of our dogs in there.  And then....

And then there was the fact I had water in the studio/dog room where we have NEVER had water before... and it was by the sliding glass doors....

AND THEN... after we ruminated about this over dinner... Bob went into his work out area and all his stuff on one side was thrown on the floor... wish I had taken a photo of that but he was too busy cursing for me to intrude with a camera!

SO... what do YOU think??? I have absolutely no clue what was up... but... do you think a dog could do this to the laundry room? Really - how weird is this???

Things that make you go HMMMMMMM....

(Friday a.m.)

So, Bob was ranting, raving and railing about the damned dogs when I showed him the photo of the laundry room.  Stopped him dead in his tracks. The photo here is a little shelving unit - on the middle shelf he has a bunch of hats - that's what was pulled on to the floor.  Now, I can see Milton doing that - he's small enough, but... he was crated. 

Now I've had some suggestions and I will also add this:

No earthquake. No doggy door. No teenagers (although I will say Jessie's room usually looked like the photo of the laundry room!) No valuables taken.  It does look like some one was searching for something and everyone knows I am not home on Thursdays. But what would be in the laundry room??? And this is what it usually looks like...

The thing that really gets me is - if a dog did this where was he standing to pull the stuff out?  There wasn't much room between the cubbies and the junk on the floor and wouldn't the big plastic tub have been knocked over?

Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July!  Today we took our bar-b-que to Rex and Carla's house... Rex had neck surgery last Wednesday and Skylar and I were trying to make our get together as easy as "pie" for everyone.  Bob is flying home from New York, so it was just us kids, so to speak.

I'm glad I took this picture because about 5 minutes later it was gone - I'm pretty sure it was Stonewall who ate it... she likes counter cruising.  Gotta tell you I almost cried.  If I had only known I could have saved hours by just giving her the damned apples before I peeled them!

The Fourth use to be our other big family holiday and it makes me sad every year.  Hell - Jake's birthday was on the first and I totally forgot... what kind of gram-ma does that make me???  In the old days we were always at the hotel in the Catskills for the summer.  We have two cousins (twins!) who were born on the fourth and the whole Kutcher clan would be together, if not for the whole summer, certainly for that weekend.

When Skylar was in his freshman year in college he had his knee scoped so I stayed home with him, and so started a whole new round of traditions.  I would stay home and Bob would go spend the summer at the hotel. The girls were in sleep away summer camp in NY as well, so I'd would go up and spend the 4th at the hotel and seen them - visiting day was usually the weekend before or after - so I'd sort of kill two birds with one stone.

JC was totally committed to Erin by 1994 and so after the fourth we would go and spend a week or so with Bruce and Lolly and all the kids (JC and Skylar's paternal grandmother lived 2 houses away) at the Jersey Shore and then again on our drive back South. The Fourth was to Bruce and Lolly what Mardi Gras is to Bob and me. JC and Erin got married in 1999... they became pregnant in 2001.  Shortly after then Bruce was diagnosed with lung cancer and died a few days before Jake's first birthday.  I'm not sure but I think he was buried on June 30th. We always went up for Jake's birthday, then Katrina happened and now, every week is the same.

To tell you the truth, I'm surprised it is July.  My weeks have only Mondays and Thursdays, pretty much the only days I leave the house.  Mondays are for errands and groceries - Thursday is my "mental help" day when I get some spa service done and go to see my therapist.  And truth be told, when I wake up in the morning, it is like being a little kid trying to figure out how many sleeps until Thursday.  Really... how sad is that that I spend the first waking moments of every day figuring out what day of the week it is- forget actual dates - I'm happy with the day of the week!

I consider myself fairly "normal" and stable, but I am still leery of leaving the house and almost fearful of leaving the city since the storm.  I'm getting better - as is the city - but it is annoying that the after affects are still lingering - or for that matter that there are still after affects.  But I digress... big surprise...

Happy Fourth of July - have a safe and happy one - and if you have a chance - reflect on what a privilege we have here of freedom.  And say a quick prayer of thanks to all who have defended our country so that we may have that freedom.

PS - I added photos to the Father's day post - doesn't Andy French toast look FAB??  And it was! 

What a weekend!

Geesh... I've been trying to post this since Sunday, but we've been so busy!  It was a great weekend - we went to the circus Friday night.  Bob is big on the Big top - one of his favorite things ever.  For year

I started this three days ago and just am finally getting back to it- A whole week has passed! So... where were we?  Oh right - the circus! For the past oh, gee 10 years or so I have always been out of town when the circus was in New Orleans, but Bob always found someone to go with him.  I was really excited that we were able to finally go together.  It has changed A LOT - instead of 3 rings it is now only one with a huge plasma type "magic mirror" looking thing... but some things never change.  There were jugglers, magicians, clowns, and animal acts.  The smells were familiar and we had a classic dinner of junk food, complete with hot dogs, peanuts and cotton candy!

The Arena was packed and I was glad... on the news there was a preacher who was attending his first circus!  He is my age!  The things we take for granted, oh my.

Somethings have changed though, there was a CAT (not tigers, domestic house CATS!) act that was pretty amusing... and there really wasn't a trapeze act either... it's now kind of a hybrid.

The guys are on the swing and do tumbling stuff and end up on the trapeze for the catch... they also went through a ring of fire as their finale - I guess it sort of combined the tumbling, trapeze and that guy on the motor cycle (although they had those in a cage).   

It was the same, but different - including the light twirlers (what are those things called anyway??) At any rate that was last Friday night... and Saturday we had another - MUCH bigger crawfish boil.  Jessie and Skylar had a bunch of their friends over so there was about 30 - 35 people at the house!

Sky and Mr Rex went to get the little mud bugs - and these guys were really feisty - they kept trying to get out of the cooler! We had kids every where and people kept coming all evening. It was a nice mix though between grown ups and kids. (though at some times who could tell the difference!)

The dogs were having a fine time as well... I kept mine inside - they have way too much hair to be comfortable when it's 90 degrees out - but Dank (Dawg) and Sky's dog (General shown here-) had fun exploring and making new friends.  My friend Mary and Dank communed together and I just love this photo of them. It was another fun weekend and it's been a long time since Andy's been home.  Yeah, sometimes it's good to be Mom.