Spring has sprung.

Memorial Day weekend is a thing of the past.  Many of the residents did come out to watch the parade.  The weather cooperated.  We served over 30 people at our impromptu pot luck picnic.  Later in the day, we played shuffleboard and bocce ball.  My shoulder told me when to quit.  I knew I'd be a very hurting unit if I kept going.  Found music from the 50s and 60s that celebrated summer.  It seemed appropriate music for the day.

My friend, Nancy, planned to call me early this morning so we could walk for about 1/2 hour.  I woke up late.  I saw her about 9:30am and asked if she called.  She laughed.  "No, I overslept."  So much for good intentions.  We'll try again tomorrow morning.

The shop and the diner are doing well.  Vacations are taking a chunk out of my volunteer pool.  Tomorrow, for example, I'll be in the shop from 3 to 6pm.  It should go fast since tomorrow is Pizza day.  It will keep me busy.

Tonight, I'll do the prep work for lunch on Thursday in the diner.  The choices are a grilled turkey sandwich with a spinach, artichoke and asiago cheese spread, thinly sliced tomato and grilled onions, the usual hot dogs from the outdoor grill and egg and black olive sandwiches.  The spread is best after it mellows for a few days, so making it tonight will work.

Since I'm going away for the weekend, I'll have to get Monday's breakfast underway before I leave.  The special for Monday is a triple berry french toast bake. 

Things are buzzing at the Towers.  We are working on a plan to use the donated craft supplies.  Our first gathering of the talented arts and craft people is Monday.  I know there will be a lot of good ideas.  We did name our group the GeneSeniors.  We'll be making items to donate; some to sell in our tiny gift shop; some to add to our 'welcome basket' for new residents; and others for decorations for our community rooms.  It should be an interesting project. 

There is a request for an Ice Cream Social.  When I mentioned it to Shop and Stock, his first reaction was, "How much is that going to cost us?".  In the end, he'll go along with it.  We just have to get over his initial rant.   I really believe that an event like the picnic (we supplied the hot dogs, rolls, etc.) and an ice cream social go a long way towards thanking the residents who support the shop and the diner.  It will be fun for the residents to make their own ice cream creations. 

Today is the last day of our May Ice Cream Sale.  It has been a marathon of keeping up with the demand.  Between ice cream and pop, it has kept S&S running.

This is the beginning of another busy week. 

Election Day for NY26; Good Friends; LiveWorld Deja Vu

Election Day - Morning
I was up at 4am on Tuesday, May 24.
My plan was set the night before.  Get up, make coffee, shower, dress, pack my breakfast and lunch then enjoy a relaxing cup of coffee before heading out to the library where I would be working the polls for the special election.
The library is just around the corner, so I knew I didn't have to leave until 5:20am to make it there by 5:30am.  We'd set up the room, power up the voting machine and be ready for the throngs of folk clamoring to cast their vote at 6am.
The plan was sound.  It really was.  Except, I didn't check to make sure my keys were hanging on the door.  They weren't.
At 5:20am, I discovered that my keys were missing. 
Without them, I didn't have the keys to my friend's car, which I would use to transport what I needed for the day.
Without them I couldn't get back into the building or my apartment at the end of the day.
On the outside chance that my friend was awake, I put in a call to see if we could change plans and have him take me to the library.  No luck, the call went to the answering machine.
I went downstairs and buzzed my friend, Gert.  Could she take me to the library, NOW?  She certainly could and did.  I have called her my angel before....now you know why.
I'd like to report that voting was brisk.  It wasn't.  We never saw our first voter until 7:30am. By then my friend did call to find out what I wanted at that ungodly hour.  I explained the situation and asked if he would bring my extra apartment key to the library.  At least, with that, I'd be sure to be back in the apartment at the end of this long day.
Friends
You have already met two of the friends who were part of my day.  There are more.
Dan dropped in mid morning to see if I needed coffee.  We had coffee on site, but a diet pepsi would hold me for the day if he could drop one off later.  He did.
Cathie, from the library, stopped in and brought me a bagful of books I had ordered for my summer reading.  They came in handy to wile away the time between voters.
My friend did bring me my apartment key.  He also was kind enough to take the bag of books home so I didn't have to cart them at the end of the day.
Chris came in to cast his vote around supper time.  He was kind enough to order a pizza for us.  Thank you, Chris.  Chris was really running a tight schedule as well,  He would be part of an election pod cast at 8:30pm, in Buffalo.  So, taking the time to think us was doubly appreciated.
I called my neighbor, Marlene, to ask if she would mind buzzing me in sometime between 9:30 and 10pm.  She agreed to wait by the phone for me to come home.
Each of these people made the day much easier.  I am so blessed to have good friends.
Election Day - Evening
I got home, turned on the TV to get the election results.  Kathy Hochul won the congressional seat for NY 26.  I celebrated with a diet pepsi and went to bed.  I'd look for the keys in the morning.
The LiveWorld Connection
If my friend, Julia, is reading this then she already has figured out the rest of the story. 
Years ago, while working for LiveWorld, I had a fob that was needed to enter a client's site.  You had to enter the numbers displayed on the fob, so I kept it on my desk where it would be easy to read.
One particular day, I had a shift for that client, then a shift for another client, and then had to go back to the first client for the next shift.  I reached for the fob and it was gone.  Not just gone but it evaporated into thin air.
The room I worked in was devoid of anything but the desk, my computer, printer, and paperwork.  There wasn't anywhere that fob could go where I wouldn't see it.  I did a frantic search but couldn't find it.
I made a desparate call to Julia, my supervisor.  I was in NY, Julia in California.
She would have to get someone to do my shift and send me a new fob via overnight messenger.
Thank goodness for the time difference.  Julia's late husband, Jim, would have time to get the fob to Federal Express in time for it to go out that evening.
The next morning, I was putting things away in the kitchen.  There was a cracker box on the counter that felt very light.  I decided to just pour what was left in a bowl and have them for lunch.  When I poured the crackers out, there was the fob...in the cracker box.  I had the box on the floor while doing my shifts the night before.  It fell in the box without me knowing it.  Sheepishly, I called Julia to tell her that the fob was found.  We've laughed over this many times over the years.
Wednesday Morning
Coffee in hand, I started the search for the keys.  They were no where around the desk, not on the couch, not under the bed, nowhere.
I looked on the kitchen counter, and there was a box of crackers.  I reached in and realized there was only one sleeve of crackers left in the box.  I reached in to get the sleeve and felt the keys.  There they were, in the cracker box. 
Keys found.  Mystery solved, I think.
This time I can't say I had the box out the night before.  I did have it out to take a sleeve of crackers with my stash of food I took to the library.  How the keys got in there is beyond reason. 
Had I just posted my problem on Facebook, I'm sure Julia would have read it and just answered back, "check the cracker box!".

My Angels and Jon "Bowzer" Bauman

I am sick.  Not really sure what is wrong, but my blood pressure numbers didn't look good on Wednesday morning.  My bottom number is usually in the low 60s.  Wednesday morning my blood pressure was 153/119.  I think it is a combination of a reaction to an over the counter medication I took to dry out my sinus'.  It is also allergy season and every pollenating tree and flower is after me.
I cancelled the luncheon on Thursday.  I honestly wasn't up to it.  Most of Thursday, I spent in bed.
Then, the phone started ringing.
Kathy Hochul's campaign called.  Jon Bowzer Bauman of Sha Na Na fame would like to visit the towers on Friday night to entertain our residents and talk about getting out to vote, could I arrange it? 
Arranging it didn't take much work.  I called the office and asked if our wonderful administrative assistant, Angel Sharon,  would work up some posters. 
"I'll be down in a few minutes to give you the details.", I promised.
So, I dragged myself out of bed, got dressed and headed for the office.
As I got off the elevator I ran into one of my neighbors. 
"Don't you have people coming tonight?", she asked.
"No."
"Yes, you do.  You have two people booked for tonight.", she pointed to the calendar.
My head cleared long enough to let this process.  I DID have two people coming to entertain tonight.
One, a talented musician who regales his audience with his the banjo, piano and accordian and a very smart media specialist from the local community college who would give a talk on senior citizens and social networking.
The fact that they were both scheduled on the same night is a good indication of how cluttered my mind has been lately.  It was cancel one or the other, or let the musician be the opening act for the media specialist.  I chose the latter.
My business finished in the office I went to the kitchen to see what I had for refreshments for that evening.
It was slim pickings.  2 packages of cookies left over from when we had little dancers entertain us a few nights before and 3 sleeves of Oreo cookies.  At that moment, an angel appeared at the door.  Angel Gert is our resident baker.  She looked at my pitiful pile of cookies and announced she'd be back within the hour with homemade cookies.  She was true to her word and the evening's refreshment problem was solved.
Thus, Thursday ended on a positive note.  I went to bed!
That brings us to today. 
I woke up, made coffee, sat down to the computer and started my to do list for the day.
The list included making an important phone call to the Board of Elections.  I got a call on Thursday asking if I would consider moving up from a poll inspector to site supervisor.  I said I would and arranged to go to their office for additional training on Monday morning.
Sometime before I went to bed on Thursday evening, it dawned on me that I couldn't go on Monday morning.  I'd be making and serving breakfast at our Summer Diner.  My first call was to change the time for my training on Monday.  Thank goodness they were agreeable and I will now be trained at 12:30pm.
The second call was to firm up Bowzer's visit tonight.
The third call was to reserve a bus for July 29 so that our residents could attend a Muckdog game and watch the fireworks.
So far so good.
The next ten calls or so were reminders to people who would be working the phones or canvassing on Saturday.  Done!
I left an email message to Howard Owens from thebatavian.com asking if he would like to cover Bowzer's visit. 
Sent a few more emails and then headed down to the kitchen to decide on refreshments for evening.
God sent me two angels at just the right time.  Enter Angel Martha. 
As we talked, I leafed through our newsletter.  On the recipe page I put a recipe for a french toast bake with a praline topping. 
"That's it!", I exclaimed.  "Martha, we're making french toast."
I cut up bread and arranged it in a buttered pan.
Martha's job was to whisk in the ingredients as I got them out.
Eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg were combined under Martha's care. 
A bag of frozen blueberries, raspberries and blackberries got tossed in for good measure.
Then the mixture was poured on the bread. 
The dish could sit for the afternoon allowing the bread to absorb the liquid. 
We sort of imagined dishing it out and figured we could serve 20, if the portions were small and we covered each portion with whipped cream.
I'd go down at 5pm and put it in the oven.  While it was in the oven, I'd shower. 
Martha and I agreed to meet at 6:30 to dish out the portions.  Which she did.
I was worried that Bowzer wouldn't make it at the appointed time, and I wanted something to entertain our residents while they were waiting.  I thought playing Sha Na Na music would be appropriate.  Finding it wasn't all that easy.  I called the local music store only to discover that they no longer carried CDs.  I called Wal-Mart.  No dice.
I pleaded on my Facebook page for help.   Angel Dan came through.  Even though he works in another county, had an appointment at 5pm at his bank, he managed to get home and download songs on a disc and delivered them in plenty of time.  Thank you, Dan!
So, now we have the CD and learned that THREE CD players didn't work.  Another angel came to the rescue, Angel Dennis who put the CD into the DVD player and viola, we had music.
Bowzer called me a little before 7 to say they were about 20 minutes away.  That worked out fine.  I gave him final directions to our place and felt that I could relax.
I checked the dining room and counted almost 40 people.  My bake will serve 20. 
Angel Gert, without me saying a word, came in with another batch of homemade cookies and Angel MaryLou walked in with a blueberry pie.  Like the loaves and fishes, we fed the multitudes.
Oh, did I mention that Angel Gert also put on an urn of regular coffee and an urn of decaf late in the afternoon so it would be ready by 7?  If not, I should have. 
The evening was a success.  The folks loved Bowzer.  They shared memories of their teen days in the 50s and loved his stories.  They talked about medicare and the problems facing our generation as we wade through the maze of paperwork required for needed healthcare.
I should be sleeping, but the evening energized me.  I had to share the events of the last two days and give thanks for the many people I can rely on when I am in need of angels.
There are two more angels, Angel Pat brought her camera and took some great shots of the evening.  I snagged them off her Facebook page to add to next month's newsletter.  Angel Shop and Stock who quietly took both shifts in The Snack Shop tonight.  His own and that of one of our volunteers who couldn't make it due to illness.  Normally, I would have done one or the other.  He never mentioned that he would do a double.  I appreciate his effort to keep the shop open.
So, thank you Angels Sharon, Gert, Martha, Dennis, Dan, MaryLou, Pat and Shop and Stock.  What would I do without you?

Angel Pat and Bowzer

Bowzer at the piano - thank you Jon Bowzer Bauman for a wonderful evening



I Am a Liberal

There is a guy, on thebatavian.com, who refers to me as his "dear liberal, Bea".  He, and many others in the red county of Genesee delight in disparaging those of us who embrace being liberal Democrats.
Every once in a while, I have to take a look at a clip from The West Wing, to remind me exactly what it means to be a 'liberal'.  I was reminded, again, today and decided to share it.

Corwin's Chief of Staff on the Run

If any of my Florida readers happen to see one of the wanted posters, please post a picture to Facebook.
http://www.wheresmallia.com/
Hey a $5000 reward isn't chicken feed.  Keep your eyes open.
Thanks :)

Republicans Running Scared in NY26

How scared can the Republicans get when they resort to using the money from Karl Rove's Super Pac.
The beginning salvo in this war of words between Tea Party candidate, Jack Davis, and the GOP's heiress, Jane Corwin, has been shot.

The fight for the NY26 seat will now come down to how many lies the Corwin campaign can throw about Jack Davis and how much of it will stick to the wall.
In the meantime, Kathy Hochul, is running a clean campaign.  She is fighting with the weapon that counts, the truth.
Let the battle begin between the two multi-millionaires.  It should be interesting to watch.

Monday, Monday

The Kentucky Derby Party was a smashing success.  I wouldn't even dare take credit for that.  The people I had volunteer for the party, and for the opening of The Summer Diner, are the true stars.
Our version of a diner opened on May 2. 

The tables were set with spring flowers that offset the gloomy Monday morning.  I loved that people coming in for breakfast chose to linger over coffee. 
Our lunch on Thursday also went well.  The choices were a hot dog from the outside grill; a tuna club sandwich; or a beef taco.  The hot dog plate was the most popular meal of the day.
There was no resting on our laurels, we had the Derby party to serve on Saturday.

The ladies came decked in their Derby hats.  They were creations that went from the picture hats to a beautifully decorated lampshade.
The Derby theme, designed and executed by my friend Mary Lu, put everyone in the mood for a grand old time.

Appetizers included spinach balls which were a great hit.  Ham, biscuits, mashed potatoes, baked beans, macaroni salad and a choice of a pecan/chocolate pie or strawberry shortcake kept everyone happy as they waited for the run for the roses. 
While I was sending out the dinners for the Derby I received a call from the Kathy Hochul campaign.
Kathy would be receiving the endorsement of the National Committee to Protect Social Security and Medicareon Monday.  Kathy is running for the NY26 seat vacated by shirtless Chris Lee.  She is the only candidate running who is fighting for the rights of senior citizens.  Would any of the residents be willing to share their experience with the changes in the prescription drug coverage at the Monday event.
I knew the perfect person to ask.  Judy is a volunteer in our Snack Shop.  She is taking sixteen different medications, three of which have no generic counterpart.  When she went to have her prescriptions filled in January she learned that her out of pocket expense had jumped from $15 ($5 each) to a whopping $260.  Judy couldn't afford to get all three so she made the decision to drop two of them.  It was a ill advised choice which landed her in the hospital twice in three months.  It took those three months to get Judy enrolled in a new prescription drug plan. 
Judy and I sat down to figure out exactly how much she is paying, out of pocket, for insurance coverage and prescription co-pay.  The figure floored me.  Her yearly out of pocket is just over $4000 a year.
I sent the information off to the campaign.  We were invited to attend the event and I was asked to tell Judy's story.

Kathy Hochul

So, Monday was a busy day.  We had our Summer Diner breakfast in the morning.  Judy, Eleanor (another resident) and I would leave at noon for Buffalo for the Hochul event.  When we arrived, I learned that I would not only tell Judy's experience but would also open the event and introduce Max Richtman, the executive vice president of the National Committee to Protect Social Security and Medicare to the press and guests.

My Monday to-do list was still waiting for me.  I had to get to the office before they closed at 4:30pm to have posters copied for the Wednesday pizza sale; reprint The Snack Shop's monthly report for Shop and Stock, who misplaced his; and finish my own report for the monthly residents' council meeting held that evening.

Ticking off the to-do list was satisfying.  But, instead of getting it down to zero (my goal), it seemed to be growing.  I had to add the garden club to the list and a new arts and craft project.  My friend, Lin, dropped off three carloads of jewelry making supplies on Saturday morning. The supplies will provide many hours of fun for the creative arts and crafts people.

I went home, after the meeting, fully expecting to go back downstairs for a few games of Wii golf.  Instead, I fell asleep and never woke until 7:30 this morning.

Another day is dawning.  I can't wait to see what it brings.

The Royal Wedding and Those Hats!

I didn't get an invitation to my distant cousin's wedding. 

Our common ancestor is a 15th century squire, Henry Spencer, who lived in Northamptonshire, an English county north of London.

His younger son William founded the line that eventually produced wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill and Diana Spencer later to be Diana Princess of Wales.
Descendants of Henry Spencer's older son, John, included Anne Marbury, who moved from Lincolnshire to Massachusetts during the 1600s.
She was later banished for religious reasons and killed by native Americans. Ann Marbury Hutchinson is my 11 great grandmother.

But, had I received an invitation I would have been in deep trouble.  I don't wear hats.  I don't like hats.  I hate to shop for hats.  My disdain for hats is now further entrenched after watching the wedding.
I'm bestowing awards for some of the hats, and uttering comments about others.

The Wicked Stepsisters Award

They may be lovely ladies, but who on God's Green Earth convinced them to leave their palace in those hats?

Did they ever consider those seated behind them? 

If I wear a gravity defying Hat then no one will notice my tummy bulge

The hat might have worked if he didn't call attention to her upcoming event.

Incognito Award



Is she hiding a wart under that hat?

I love the color, the shoes, the dress, the clutch.  Then there is that hat.  Do you ever wonder what all of those uber rich ladies carry in those tiny handbags?

Does she have a beige house too?

I didn't select this picture for the vision on beige, but because it shows Princess Ann.  I missed her entrance and didn't see her in any shots throughout the day.  I even asked a few people if they remembered seeing her and they all said, 'no'.

So, now I know she wasn't snubbed.

My friend, Mark, commented that Britain should have a day like this every year, "Rich People Wearing Silly Hats Day".  My friend, Claire, retorted that WE already have one and it's called The Kentucky Derby.