Monday, August 11, 2014

The Norfolk Pine

  The phone call came from my mother and she was making some changes in her apartment.  (This was a shocker because my mother hates change.)  She wanted to give away this huge Norfolk Pine houseplant in her living room, to make some room in her living room space.  My older sister did not want the strange plant (apparently she had already tried to gift it to her first) and since my sister thinks the Norfolk Pine is truly ugly, surely I would want it for my classroom.  NOT!  I nicely told my mother that I was not interested in the Norfolk Pine and that I did not have the space or room in my classroom for such a large plant.  I did not take the plant.  I was shocked my mother was willing to give this thing away or to even be willing to make any kind of a change.  Had the world come to an end?  She was rather annoyed that no one would take this thing off her hands.  I  think she was shocked no one wanted this Norfolk Pine.  I personally think of it as the big ugly tree thing in the corner of my mother's apartment.  
  Now it was my turn and I did not know what to do. Let me explain- in a way, my daughter's viola and violin instruments were in some ways like the Norfolk Pine.  I knew that my daughters did not plan on playing the instruments, but found it incredibly difficult to think about selling or parting with their musical instruments they had played since childhood.  I knew I needed to let go of this one.
  My husband and I made the decision and we took the instruments to a music shop.  I was good with this decision.  I was good with it til I saw the instruments sitting side by side on a shelf on the other side of the counter.  There they sat, just like they had sat in my living room, kitchen floor, entry way,..... you get the picture.  This letting go stuff was harder than I thought.  I was determined to not let these musical instruments sit in my basement and mold away.  Someone should get some good use from them.  AND if one more person suggests I save the instruments for my Grandchildren, I just might vomit!  (I don't have any Grandchildren nor do I expect any, anytime soon.)
  So the instruments are gone now and out of the house.  The trip to the music store has moved the instruments into the hands of another musician.  I have moved on and maybe this is not like my mother trying to give away the Norfolk Pine?  I don't know. It all was more difficult than I thought it would be and the instruments represent far more to me that just musical instruments.  Who knew?!

Monday, August 4, 2014

New York City-Get a Rope!

  This last weekend of summer I spent in N.Y. city with my 2 daughters and husband.  What an experience!  It was fun to see the sites and to do major shopping, but it is absolutely wonderful to be back in Kansas.  I can walk outside and breath the air and it smells... clean.  I kept thinking as I walked around N.Y. that I needed to go gather up the dirty towels in the kitchen sink and wash them.  That smell kept coming up from the vents on the streets.  I think it was the subway below us.  The dirty kitchen towel smell was an overwhelming smell.  NY was a fun weekend vacation but truly "There is no place like home."!
  My favorite part of the entire weekend was spending time with my 2 daughters and husband.  The memories we made were fun and will last til I'm old and can't remember anymore.
  The first night there was good.  We had traveled by plane to Baltimore to get my oldest daughter and then by car to N.Y.  When we got to our hotel room, I could not believe how small the rooms were.  I think I was too tired to care and had a good night's sleep.   Everything in NY has little space but lots of people.
   In the morning we headed out for Central Park and it was beautiful.  I felt bad for the homeless people I saw on the sidewalks.  That bothered me significantly.  Central Park had  many things to do and see, not just the homeless.  I was glad we went.  When we came back, I showered and rested for a while but my husband took our daughters to H and M and did some afternoon shopping.
   I have pictures of my husband trying on men's Capri pants.  I am sure they will be in the Midwest soon (ha, ha) but for now my husband decided to not make a fashion statement and leave the pants in N.Y. I think this was a good decision on his part.
  We went to different restaurants and different tourist attractions.  We went to the top of the Rock and once I got past my dizziness, I thought the NY skyline was a magnificent site.  Walking along the sidewalks was a cultural extravaganza with different  languages (we counted 8 different languages) being spoken all at once around us during one of our shopping excursions.
  This whole trip was to celebrate my youngest daughters 18th birthday and was her graduation gift from high school.  It was also our summer get away vacation.  In less than 2 weeks, she will move to Lawrence to start her college career and my oldest daughter will return to finish her last year as a Kansas Jay Hawk.  I am thankful for the fun weekend we four spent together and the laughter we shared!  Time is changing and transitioning for all of us.  We will  continue to embrace it and move forward towards the next stage of our journey together.