Despite living the first year of her life in Las Vegas, my dog Bailey absolutely hates hot weather. In fact, she would not be happier than if there was snow falling every day of the year.
But this year, I discovered something that is making my thick-coated Schipperke really happy, even in the heat and extreme humidity.
Ice water.
Sounds really simple - throw a few ice cubes in your dog's water to cool it down. Only my persnickety dog will have none of that. She will stick her paw in the water bowl and try to scoop out the floating ice cubes, making a slippery mess on the floor (not to mention the dirty paw prints all over the place).
Instead, to appease my pooch, I keep a pitcher on the counter with a strainer lid. I fill it halfway with ice cubes and almost all the way to the top with water, swirl it around and filter out the ice cubes and the dog gets her ice water. Much like a bartender stirring a martini.
This past week was especially hot here and my precocious dog started taste testing her water whenever she saw me go into the freezer and heard the ice bin rattling around.
"Let's see... (lick) Wait, my water isn't cold yet? I'll look up at mom and make sure she's getting it ready."
And then she drinks contentedly for a minute straight....ahhhhh!
Happy dog time.
(If you want to make a special ice cold cocktail treat for your hot doggy, here's what I do - dissolve one beef or chicken bouillon cube in 1 cup of boiling water, swirl with ice, strain and serve.)
My grandma, Helen Jasin, affectionately called "Gram" for most of my life, was born in a tiny town in southwestern PA called Fairchance. What started out as a rather conventional childhood took a detour when her dad passed away from a ruptured appendix when she was only seven years old. She then watched her mother waste away for a couple more years after until she died “from a broken heart.”
Gram and her younger sister Ann went to live with their maternal grandparents - Polish immigrants who already had a houseful of kids.
When she was ten years old, the stock market crashed. She often says what kept her grandparents’ large family from being destitute was the fact they owned a small store attached to their house.
Her Aunt Blanche was nine years her senior (and still alive at age 99) and took Gram under her wing. As Gram often reminisces, Blanche is the one who bought her graduation dress for her and then took her to live in South Florida for three years after she graduated.
Gram & Me (age 3) - I wanted her in the picture too!
While Blanche stayed in Florida, Gram moved to Cleveland. She was at a wedding one night with friends when she met a shy young man, who later turned out to be my Gramp.
They were married and then my mom was born. Aunt Carol followed a few years later. Early in their marriage, they resided in East Cleveland, but later moved to Wickliffe in LakeCounty, and Gram still lives in the same house they shared for 50 years.
It amazes me that despite having a very rough life growing up, Gram is the most well-adjusted person I have ever met. In this age of everyone seemingly being on antidepressant medication, life coaches around every corner, and so many people in therapy, it IS possible to have a long, happy and uncomplicated life without any of that.
My Gram has always been my biggest supporter and confidante, the greatest listener one could ever imagine, as well as the kindest and most humble soul in the world. I love when she laughs – because she sounds like Barney Rubble and that makes me laugh too.
Gram and Gramp were married for 62 years and Gramp passed away earlier this year, leaving a huge hole in all of our lives.
Because they were so important to each other for so many years, we were worried about how Gram would handle losing Gramp. Either she was going to crumble - or she would make it without him. It has been a difficult road for sure, but she has handled it surprisingly well. Perhaps it is because she learned to deal with unspeakable loss so early in life. She may seem meek and gentle, but underneath is the spirit of a survivor – further evidence can be found in the fact that she lived through breast cancer and has had diabetes for many years now.
Other random Gram facts:
She never learned to drive, she has a blue parakeet named Chippy, she loves the Home Shopping Network and QVC (and has a big jewelry box full of rings to prove it – that was a passing phase though). She enjoys pina coladas and Mounds bars (as you guessed, not great for the diabetes!), baseball, Petti’s Restaurant and Papa Joe's subs down the street.
She especially loves gardening. She has the greenest thumb I have ever seen. She is a nurturing personality, which can best be seen when her yard is in full bloom in mid-Summer.
Gram's Yard, Summer 2009
Her favorite exclamations are “man alive” and “geezooey” (spelled phonetically since I have no idea if that is even a word other people say). I think where other people might swear, Gram says man alive or geezooey.
Today, on her 90th birthday, Gram slept in, is getting her toenails clipped at the podiatrist (what everyone should do on such a momentous occasion!) and will be going to “some Bones place” for dinner with the family. I assume she meant Smokey Bones :)
Oh, and she doesn’t want to think about her birthday!
I was honored to deliver the eulogy for my grandpa's funeral mass. Gramp passed away at 10:30pm on January 27th. After being cremated, the funeral mass was held on January 31st.
Gramp was a private and humble man who didn’t like attention or a lot of fuss over him.
But today, on behalf of his family, we appreciate your presence here to help us remember him and celebrate his life.
When I was preparing to write a few words about the man I called “Gramp”, I realized I had already written most of it almost two years ago.
Part of this is from a blog post I wrote on March 9, 2007 – to commemorate Gramp’s 90th birthday.
***
My beloved grandpa is Cleveland native Alex Jasin (wisely shortened from Jaczynski). He was born March 9, 1917. He survived the Great Depression and was a factory worker until he retired.
Never one to sit around – was more antsy than anyone I have ever seen – he was a school crossing guard for the past 25 years. He finally retired this past June at age 91.
He had not one, but two workshops – one in the garage and one in the basement. He invented all kinds of cool stuff and did some woodworking – mainly making ducks with propeller wings -- anything to keep him busy.
I always compared him to a working breed of dog, maybe a border collie, that is happiest when it has a job to do, whether it’s herding sheep or playing Frisbee.
Gramp was truly a jack of all trades.He knew about plumbing, electricity, and carpentry.You name it, he could figure it out.He received several patents for his inventions when he worked at General Electric.He had the mind of an engineer, despite his 8th grade education.
Gram and Gramp’s house and garage are filled with his little inventions and creations – from the “toast remover” – made out of two tongue depressors which pulls the toast out of the toaster - to what I called the “garage ball” – a golf ball that hung from a string in the garage that would hit his windshield and tell him when he had pulled in far enough – and then there’s the little red chair Brian and I would sit on at family dinners when we were kids.
My childhood memories are full of fun times at Gram and Gramp’s house.When we slept over, Gram and I would share their bed while Gramp and Brian would take the bed upstairs. We would hear them laughing uncontrollably until all hours and we would start laughing too.We loved going over to stay with them – even when they argued - good naturedly - in front of us in Polish.
Gramp gave me my love of all things hot and spicy.We would have discussions about our favorite kinds of hot foods and he would actually turn red and start sweating.As a result of our love of hot stuff, we both ended up with acid reflux.
Gramp loved laying in the sun in the summertime.He enjoyed watching the Indians with Gram, and we all loved when he mispronounced the players’ names - like Kenny Lawson.
He was the official family turkey carver.He loved to make people laugh.When he was in the hospital, he was always the nurses’ favorite patient because he was the one who joked with them and made their job more pleasant.He loved Chuck Norris and watching westerns, cartoons, and COPS.
Gramp always dreamed of winning the lottery. And he said that when he won it, he was going to pay off everyone’s mortgages and buy himself a new car.
Did he ever win?No.Did he come close? Yes. He did have 5 numbers one time.
But deep in his heart, though, he knew that what he had was more important than money.
He was one of the lucky few who won the lottery of life.And how many of us can really say this?
- He was in love for 62 years with his wonderful wife, my Gram.He always told her how much he loved her. He lived for her, as she did for him.
- He has two devoted daughters who realize and appreciate what amazing parents they were blessed with.
- Brian and I looked forward to all the great times we spent with Gram and Gramp while we were growing up. We went to African Lion Safari, GeaugaLake, and water slide parks.Even as adults, our times with Gram and Gramp have always been very important to us.
- Gramp also enjoyed the time he spent with his little great-granddaughters Missy and Jenna.
As we celebrate Gramp’s life today, I would like to end by reading the last paragraph of my 90th birthday blog post. It describes a typical day in his life that would have made him happy.
And I believe this is how he will best be remembered:
“Never one to sit still, Gramp will do his morning and afternoon school guard duty, probably log some time on the exercise bike, and watch the Price is Right and Judge Judy. Hopefully he will wear his favorite red plaid shirt I bought him with his trusty suspenders, and he will have fried big bologna for lunch and Gram’s old-fashioned hamburgers for dinner.”
I was tagged on Facebook to write 25 things about myself, and I thought I would share the love with my oft-neglected blog as well.
So here they are:
1. Centipedes terrify me. 2. My dad calls me “Cup” which is short for Cupcake. 3. My favorite place is Santa Monica. 4. I was pre-med for 2 ½ years.
5. I’ve thrown up at the Rock + Roll Hall of Fame. 6. I think Grease 2 is the worst movie in history. 7. I don’t believe in astrology, but I am a textbook Leo. 8. I have been stranded in a flood. 9. I've had 3 TMJ surgeries. 10. My dad, both grandpas, and my uncle are named AL. 11. I think snakes are cool. 12. I don’t like breakfast foods. 13. I firmly believe that “goat” is the funniest word ever. 14. I have nightmares that I’m back in college, it’s finals time and I never went to class. 15. I was voted “Most likely to get into politics” in 8th grade. 16. I think the most nauseating smell is Bath & Body’s Plumeria. 17. I saw Tina Fey at Second City in 1996. 18. My signature was once described as “frilly and ostentatious.” 19. I won’t step foot in the ocean or lakes. 20. I almost had my own TV show. 21. I own no less than 12 shampoos at any time. 22. I am friends with John Belushi’s first cousin. 23. I close my eyes during the tunnel scene in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. 24. I once lived down the street from the Hard Rock Hotel in Vegas.
Monday is Martin Luther King Day, which means it is D-Day for my parents' closet. My mom will be off from work and that is the day we decided to attack it. And I do mean attack.
Being a professional wardrobe cleaner-outer, who has people pay me good money for my services, one might think that my parents would be eager for me to donate my services to such a worthwhile cause. Nope. Instead, I have had to cajole, beg, humiliate and bribe them to get my hands on that mess.
This has been ongoing since this past summer, when I spent some time in there trying to help my mom pick out an outfit for a wedding - at the last minute, of course. It's shocking how two adults with a relatively clean house can have such a horrific closet. It's like two 12 year old boys share the space, complete with stinky sneakers.
My parents are the poster children for how not to manage a closet. Not that the word "manage" should come into play at all. I'm pretty sure that my closet monkeys were bred in there. It's literally a monkey mill. Well, not for long.
During the winter, I always become convinced that I'm moving away from Cleveland at the first sign of spring. This winter is no different.
So, I decided to make a list of the things I like about my hometown and the things I don't.
What I like:
1. My beloved sad sack Browns
Wow, that was shorter than expected!
What I don't like:
1. Everything other than my beloved sad sack Browns. Especially the weather.
I know this will probably draw the ire of the pro-Cleve people, and that's fine. Go ahead and complain. I'm leaving! (As soon as I get my book finished! So it may be awhile...)
I did move to Vegas once before, so it isn't an idle threat, like those from so many others. I did it once and I will do it again! This I swear.....
Like many of us, I eagerly wait every year for Christmas. You may be wondering why.
* Am I looking forward to seeing my family? Not particularly. I see them all the time.
* Is it for religious reasons? I would like to say yes, but in reality, not so much.
* Do I want a big pile of presents? Well, duh. But that’s not why.
The truth is, I WANNA WRAP PRESENTS. REALLY, REALLY BAD.
For this little elf, wrapping Christmas gifts is a once-a-year way to express myself visually in a medium besides creatively dressing myself and others. I find it to be an extension of my job as a wardrobe stylist. If pretty wrapping paper is the clothing, then the bows and ribbons are definitely the accessories. No wonder I love it! (Plus, I hate to admit it, but I am a little crafty too – but I don’t scrapbook or make crafts.)
At Christmastime, nothing delights me more than creating attractive packages for my friends and family to open. In my mind at least, I am pretty good at it. So I wrapped early this year and decided to share some of my secrets.
The Essentials
1) Tags – sticky ones and hang tags in colors and patterns that compliment my wrap
3) Various ribbons, string, raffia, and pipe cleaners
4) Lunch-style Christmas bags
5) Tissue – Red, green, and all sorts of patterns
6) Scrapbook paper
The Tradition
I usually wrap everything at once on the Sunday night before Christmas while watching National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. It’s a movie I don’t have to watch to know what’s going on. For me, it’s like my background music.
The Wrap
In the past, I have done uniform wrapping themes (for instance, all the gifts I wrap are gold or red and swirly, or made from natural materials).
Now, just like with my closet, I buy and use what I am attracted to most. My decorating aesthetic tends toward mod, retro or swirly patterns and bright colors, and that’s where I go with my Christmas wrap as well. People can immediately tell which gifts are from me based on the colors and patterns. It’s kind of my signature.
I really like non-traditional colors for Christmas like lime and orange. If you look closely, you will notice that these colors have made their way into Christmas wrap and accessories. I still do the traditional red and green and metallics, but if the colors are more vibrant or funky, that seems to inspire me more.
You can also use non-Christmas wrap! One of my best secrets is to get away from the Christmas section of the store and see if anything in the regular wrap section inspires me. I found this lime green wrap and added deep red ribbons for a Christmas look.
Proportion
Just as petite people look “off” in large patterns and larger people don’t look quite right in tiny prints, proportion is vital in wrapping Christmas gifts. Keep small, medium, and large-patterned paper on hand.
I tend to buy small and medium-size gifts, so that is what I focus on when buying wrap.
(Note: the Christmas tree package’s ribbon is greener than it appears.)
For the Kiddies
I don’t particularly care for buying character wrapping paper. This is what my mom has always done. To me, it’s much more fun to find pink and lavender Christmas wrap for my nieces (below) and fun boyish wrap for the nephews, without having to wrap everything in giant pictures of Barbie or Spider-Man.
Mixing Patterns
I love creatively mixing patterns in wardrobes, and with Christmas wrap and accessories, It’s really no different. As long as you use one larger, further apart pattern and one smaller, more closely spaced pattern – or they somehow relate color-wise - you should have a winner.
Candy cane stripe ribbon with green polka dot wrap!
Personally, I prefer hanging tags for my presents, but find a better selection of sticky tags. So I make my own hang tags. I stick the to/from stickers to patterned scrapbooking paper, cut them out with my scalloped scissors, and punch a hole in them. Then I have the freedom to affix them to my gifts however I like.
The odd-shaped gift
I don’t know about you, but I find that I have to wrap at least a couple of cylinder-shaped gifts every year. They naturally become candy!
I double-wrapped this with a piece of colored tissue paper inside, and cut the ends of both with my trusty scalloped scissors.
I also like printed lunch bags for items that are hard to wrap. I use the scalloped scissors on the top and then punch holes across. I then lace cord or raffia through to close them.
Ribbons & Bows
I use the standard, store-bought bows, but sometimes I add to them with curls or raffia.
On an extra large package, instead of spending $5 on a bow that will get tossed in the trash, I staple a bunch of curling ribbon onto a small piece of cardboard and curl it. Then I tape it to the package under where the bow will go and I arrange it around the bow.
Or sometimes raffia gives it an extra kick.
Or, if you’re a traditionalist and like to use satin ribbon, you know it isn’t the easiest material to work with. It takes a little engineering.
To create the following look, I first taped the ribbon to the bottom to secure it. I then tied a bow and used a trick from my “bag of tricks” (and I do have one) – double-stick tape. Instead of taping a client into a dress, as I sometimes need to do, I simply molded the bow the way I wanted it to look and stuck it to the package. Looks simple, huh?
Storing it all until next year
I bought this container from Target this year.
It’s supposed to hold Christmas ornaments, but I found it perfect for storing all my wrapping materials. The tissue paper and scissors, tags, tape, etc go on the top, and the bottom is for the ribbons.
I also use small hair rubber bands (the black “ouchless” kind) to secure the ends of my wrapping paper rolls. Try this! It will save your paper for next year.
Where to buy
Here are the places where I seem to find fun and well-priced wrapping paper and supplies:
(It does end up in the garbage, after all!!)
Target (found that green ‘candy’ wrap above in the $1 section!)
Factory Card Outlet
Dollar Tree
Tuesday Morning
Jo Ann etc.
World Market
***
So those are my wrapping tips and tricks. Anyone want to share theirs?
(Sorry about the fonts switching around - Blogger gets ornery when I use a lot of pictures, and I don't feel like going all the way through the HTML code to figure out the problem.)
I have a waged a constant battle with my hair since as far back as I can remember. I do not have an ideal head of hair to say the least. It could be far worse, I know, but I still fight with it daily. Please allow me to lament.
* My hair is stick-straight naturally. Other people complain about their hair being too curly or getting frizzy. But I have never experienced anything of the sort.
* My natural hair color is an ugly mousy blonde shade. The kind of hair that is pretty and golden blonde when you are a child and then gets dingy and dirty-looking as you move into your teen years.
* It's thin - but I have a ton of it. It is especially hard to dry. One of my stylists likened it to blow drying a rug.
* It doesn't look great short - the shortest I've had has been a chin-length modified shag. I think it looks better long, which it is right now. However, it is not the best hair to allow to grow long because there are inherent problems - the ends are weak and dry and split easily. The top is very oily. I need to shampoo daily.
* My collection of hair care products rivals my collection of makeup. Nothing works great, so I just keep buying more, looking for the magic potion or pomade.
* I had to learn how to do it right. The only things I have ever known to do with a curling iron have been to curl hair under or to flip it up. So I learned how to do unconstructed waves and spiral curls, which seem to work for me. Thank goodness for tutorials on YouTube! I can actually look like I just left the salon in about 10 minutes now. In fact it's my preferred 'do since it has been longer.
But here's what I don't get:
In order to make my hair look nice straight, I need to use a flat iron. I think that is crazy since my hair has absolutely no natural wave whatsoever. I recently figured this out on my own. To do my hair straight, I have to wash it, blow dry it, set it in large velcro rollers for volume, and straighten it.
I guess I should be happy that at least I can make it look okay. But why does it have to be such pain??
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday. Most people like Thanksgiving because of the food, of course, but I don't eat any of the holiday staples, so it has to be something else, right?
It's the traditions and memories.
My Thanksgiving starts with making my vegetarian food in the morning. Last year, it was Middle Eastern fare, and tomorrow will not be too different. Seems to be my new tradition.
The parade is on in the background and I am waiting to see any Muppets or Sesame Street characters (mainly, my beloved Oscar) or a performance from Spamalot (which is closing in January, so probably won't be a part of it this year).
Then I watch the National Dog Show, looking for the Schipperke (pronounced "Skipperkey"). There aren't many dogs like mine 'round these parts, so whenever I get to see one, it's cool. Last year, the Schip placed second in the Non-Sporting Group, so I received lots of excited phone calls. "Bailey almost won!"
Apart from my little traditions, my love for Thanksgiving revolves around the memories. My family (mom's side) gets together at my Aunt Carol's in Wickliffe every year. We have the best Thanksgiving in-jokes, guaranteed to make us laugh year after year. It's also fun & games day. We eat, we play board games.
Gramp carves the turkey
The good-natured teasing starts early:
The Pumkin Pie We tease my Uncle Al mercilessly about pumpkin pie. He can't stand the stuff!When he was dating my Aunt Carol - (almost 30 yrs ago), my Gram cut him a huge piece and he choked it down - gagging the whole time. All to impress the future in-laws. Now that's love!
The Turkey I am offered the platter of turkey many times - ha ha >:P The usual suspects are Uncle Al and Gramp. I have been a vegetarian since grade school. Get with the program, people!
The Deviled Eggs We double and triple check that my aunt put out the deviled eggs. She forgot to put them on the table one year (really was funnier than it sounds!) and it's a running joke now. Sometimes it even gets mentioned on other holidays. Saying Grace My uncle says grace - nothing elaborate, just a quick heartfelt blessing. My brother and I try not to laugh. We are not terribly close....until that 30 seconds every year. It's completely unfunny, but we're both beet red, ready to explode. It's bad. We're going to hell. Lee Harvey Oswald We were having a discussion one year at Thanksgiving dinner about the Kennedy assassination, which happened really close to Thanksgiving. I believe my dad was home from the service at the time, and watching the coverage with my grandpa. When Oswald was shot live on TV, my grandpa exclaimed "That son of a bitch shot Oswald!" We had never heard that story before for some reason, and it was the funniest thing ever.
Mr. Ponti This story still makes my stomach hurt from the laughter. My aunt was out taking a walk - I think it was on election day one year. Some lonely old lady was out in her yard and started talking to my aunt. My aunt felt bad for her, so stood there and let the old lady talk. The next thing she knew, she was invited in to meet Mr. Ponti, because he liked meeting new people.
My aunt went in for some reason, with her eyes darting around looking for a weapon in the house she could use in case someone came out and attacked her - she didn't know who this lady was or who Mr. Ponti was. Turns out, Mr. Ponti was a turtle that the lady talked to like it was a person. It was out of character for my aunt to go into a stranger's house, but totally worth it for the crazy story.
The Games In recent years, we've played Balderdash and Cranium. My mom calls the former "Bangladesh" and retires to the bathroom with pen and paper when she can't think of an answer.
(In mom's world, George Harrison had a Concert for Balderdash.)
In the past several months, our official game has become Apples to Apples, but I will admit my favorite is Pictionary because I am more artistically-inclined than the rest of my family. And I really like to win!
***
This year, Gramp has had a lot of minor problems, which because of his age, have left him going in and out of the hospital. He went in again on Sunday for what could just be the flu. We're not sure if he will be released today. My brother was injured a few weeks back and still in severe pain, so Thanksgiving won't be what it usually is, but it sure was fun reliving the memories.
I'll let you know if any goofy new traditions or crazy stories happen tomorrow....
