Weekend with Jax & Lucy

In trying to get my place more ogranised I got a storage unit to hold a bunch of my stuff (I have way too many possessions...). I roped Jackson in to helping me on Saturday - he works for Mexican food and vinyl records. After lunch and shopping we picked up Lucy and I dropped the two of them for a sleepover at Nana Rose's house. Then I picked them up on Sunday to take them home. I realise that at fifty I should not consider a ten year old and a fourteen year old as my bestest pals, but honestly, I love spending time with Jax and Lucy. They are so funny and accepting and easy to be with. Best moment was Jackson putting on his 300+ song playlist in Phineas and while on shuffle, between Jeff Beck, Zeppelin, Sabbath, and Incubus, up popped Alice by Tom Waits. A week or so ago I introduced Jackson to my favourite singer's best song and he liked it enough to add to his own faves. 

Lucy Goes Climbing

In late November of 2023, Lucy showed her fearlessness when, at age seven, got in a harness and climbed a wall. I'd have been shaking like mad, but not our girl!

Happy 45th from Lucy!

Lucy's 10th Bday Party

Saturday I went to Lucy's birthday bash and it was actually a good time. I hate social situations and am usually super awkward and fighting off an anxiety attack. My brother, Dave, did a fab job setting up karaoke in the basement for all the girls to rock out to Benson Boone, Catseye, and other random singers that us old folks had never heard of. I can't believe this wee lady has been on Planet Earth for a decade. She has seriously made our family so much better.

 

Rolling Down Hills

While going through the videos on my cell, I found two clips of Jackson rolling down hills when we went to local gardens. He's such a boy.

1 Sept 2023 - Chanticleer Gardens

24 November 2023 - Grounds for Sculpture with Lucy

GFS with Lucy!

Today was day one of the Artisan Market at Grounds for Sculpture. One of the booths was to be occupied by the one and only Kate Gabrielle. Lucy was beyond her normal adorable self and interacted with immense ease while visiting each artist's booth. She got a lot of really fabulous goodies and then felt guilty for spending money on fun stuff. I calmed her nerves by saying that not only was she supporting local artists, but that they were all woman owned businesses. I'm beyond proud that her first piece of art ever purchased was a tuxedo cat painting by Kate that's like the one I bought Summer 2024 at her last yard sale. Lucy stole hearts left and right, but it was at Scolarice Art where she had everyone swooning at her sweetness. She bought a really pretty bookmark for nine bucks and handed over a twenty dollar bill saying, "Keep the change." The owner was taken aback and said, "Really?!" "Yeah. It's for the cats." (Scolarice was donating 10% of proceeds to a local cat shelter.) The woman at the booth next to theirs overheard and clutched her heart, her face melting and I swear she got teary-eyed. Same as me. I mean, this kid is out of this world awesome. We had a fantastic time buying some great art and then walked around to see our fave GFS pieces. Lucy gabbed with a girl and invited her to see the snake and poof! Lucy and Callie played together, snapped photos, and became instant pals, if only for a brief time. People have always thought I was an oddball weirdo for being friends with kids, but honestly, they are the best and Lucy is one of a kind.

My stuff!

The Sweetest of All Sweeties

A few weeks back, Lucy and I went to see Uncle Alan and Ann Marie to deliver Girl Scout Cookies. Uncle Alan always forces me to leave with a fist full of cash and so I always make it a point to send him a thank-you-so-much-but-it-is-really-not-necessary card. I texted Lucy to tell her that if she wrote out thank you notes that I would mail them with mine. I couldn't help but "aww" at the letters she penned. She really and truly is such a wonderfully special little girl and I'm so, so glad to have her for a niece and especially a gal pal.

Dear Uncle Alan

It was great coming to hang out with you. I always love visiting you! I am so thankful for the money you gave me. Aunt Lisa and I went shopping and bought mommy and daddy each a present. Thank you for supporting my girl scout troop by bying cookies!

Love, 

Lucy

Dear Aunt Ann Marie

I absolutely love the makeup, makeup bag, and vintage tray mirror! I came straight home and put my makeup in the bag and set up the mirror on my vanity. It was so nice handing out and catching up with you. Thank you so much!

Love, Lucy

Betsy Ross Lucy!

Oh my gawd...how stinkin' cute is this child?! I can't handle it.

We Still Love Bluey

Lucy is approaching ten in a couple months. When the kids in my life grow older, I always worry that we will lose our connection and especially the things that ran like a thread through our friendship. With Lucy, we have both loved Bluey since we began hanging out together as pals. When a new season would drop we would FaceTime and chat about our fave moments. Yesterday I was a gooey puddle of salt water taffy after getting this text from her.

January 2026 Donations

Girl Scouts of America

Lucy's Girl Scout troop was selling cookies again and I managed to help her sell to Bishop, Alan, Bella, Melanie, Wayne, MeMom and Pop and of course, vegan ones for me!

When you buy Girl Scout Cookies, you are creating opportunities for Girl Scouts to learn, grow, and thrive through the largest girl-led entrepreneurial program in the world. From learning how to interact with customers to creating budgets and taking orders, the Girl Scout Cookie Program teaches Girl Scouts invaluable skills that they’ll need to succeed throughout their lives. 

The Girl Scout Cookie Program provides opportunities for Girl Scouts to practice and develop their entrepreneurial skills, giving them an edge compared to their non-member peers, according to a study by the Girl Scouts. 

Plus, Girl Scout Cookie proceeds stay local! From trekking through the deep woods to traveling the world, you're helping fuel new experiences and adventures for local Girl Scouts all year long.

Girl Scouts build a better future for themselves and the world. And the Girl Scout Cookie Program makes it all possible, thanks to your support. 

Please join me in the Low Budget Philanthropy movement and help out your community and beyond in the simplest way - donating any amount to whatever charity or organisation that you care about!

BONUS!

I looped pals in to supporting Lucy's troop. Bishop's reply via text made me smile.

Looking Back on 2025

January 

• 25th - Lucy looked so sweet and pensive staring out the window while Dave pulled up James Blunt's "Monsters" video on YouTube. I wanted to record this small moment of Lucy and every time I watch it I wonder what she was thinking. Was she listening to the lyrics, did she see a bird in Nana Irma's birdbath, or maybe a squirrel bopping around the grass? 

February

• The Eagles win the Super Bowl! I only saw a clip of it at Mum's because I am still bitter towards the NFL after the way they blacklisted Koepernick. Still, it's nice to know that the hometown boys done did it again!

Syd and Ciarán celebrating in Philly!

March

• Lucy embraces her blue-light glasses and loves the black ones most cause her Dad and I wear black framed glasses. She's so cuuuuute!!

April

• farewell to sweet little Roark and hello to Phineas Erik!! The joy of not being in a constant state of fear if my car will get me from A to B is an overwhelming relief. I miss Roark sometimes, but Finn is a great, great car and I love him.

• New York with Amy!

• Make plans for a road trip to Ohio!

May

• 17th - Jax's 60s R&B concert was tons of fun!!

June

• 6th - Getting used to Finn. Putting the Bluey and Bingo stickers helped make this plain black car of mine feel more me, but it was my purchasing a sticky hook that I stuck next to my push-start button so that it could hold my keys that made Phineas feel fun, weird, and mine all mine. (I mean of all the things to update on a car, is keyless ignition really all that important??)

• 22nd - Braved the heat to have lunch with Bishop:

• 29th - Brunch at Sabrina's Café with Mel and Lauryn!

July

• 9th: The creepy guy at work got fired!

August

• Taylor Swift goes on New Heights podcast and I watch it live while texting with mega Swiftie Melissa out in Oregon. Then in the following weeks I watched as the world went bananas over how openly supportive and adoring Travis is toward Taylor. Down with toxic masculinity and bring on the real men!!

• Ended August by meeting Bella for lunch and four hours of non-stop chit chat. We cannot wait for our vacay in the Spring so we can talk without interruption!

(My god, I need to see a physician about those bags under my eyes!! HORRIBLE!! I don't even look human.)

September

• Started the month out the best way possible - going to Goldie with Kayla and scoring a fantastic hug and mini photo shoot with Miss Janine!! Then car selfies with Kay (check it out - I'm finally able to wear Grandad's old watch since Dave fixed it!) to round out a perfect day.

• Went to Trader Joe’s a few towns away on the 30th and the young (maybe 19-20ish) employee at the next checkout complimented my hair. I thanked him and did my usual silly toss of non-existent hair over my shoulder or fluffed up the curl of a flip hairdo that I certainly don't have. He then said, "It's splendid." Cute! Then about twenty seconds later he realised he used a word that hasn't been in fashion since the turn of the last century and shaking his head ashamedly laughed at himself while saying "splendid???" I told him he sounded like my Grandad. On the way out I hollered over my shoulder, "Have a splendid night, mister!" Splendid! I need to help bring that word back in style.

October

• The Life of a Showgirl drops! Stay up til midnight October 3rd to hear the album from start to finish with zero interruptions. It's a god damn masterpiece.

• Later in the day of the 3rd I headed over to Mum's for a mini-gathering with Amy, her mother, Maggie, and family friend, Ivy. It was so great to make Amy laugh until she was in tears. I reminded her of the time her mother nearly strangled me when we were kids on a road trip and I got it into my head to ponder what the world would look like if it were hot pink. "What if pickles were hot pink? What if the zoo was hot pink? What if the pavement was hot pink? What if antelope were hot pink?"

• Became obsessed with watching Drumeo videos on YouTube, especially Chad Smith (talk about dreamy...) and Mike Portnoy. I even got Bella into it!

11th

11/04

• 20th - After not seeing or hearing from Jackson for five months, I looked at my phone at 6:17pm and freaked the fuck out when his face flashed on the screen, alerting me that Jackson was calling. Since May, as I watched the weeks go by and receiving radio silence, I came to the conclusion that the day had finally arrived - Jackson was over me. He was thirteen and was no longer interested in hanging out with some old spinster who was weird and boring. I'd lost him like Nicole, Ashlee, Syd, and Zach. He'd outgrown me at last. When I answered the phone I was like the pathetic girl taking a call from the cool guy in school. "Hi!! Ohmigod I am so happy you called!!" I was on the verge of tears. Then he said, "So y'know how you are always saying that one day I'll be sick of you and I'll stop talking to you? And how I always tell you that will never happen? Well, I just realised, it happened. I'm really sorry." That's when the tears came a-flowin'. I told him that I was seriously crushed because since he was four years old, I've thought of him as one of my bestest friends and I love hanging out with him. So we chatted til 6:30 and set a day to reunite and get lunch together. The day after I would get back from Ohio, I'd pick him up and we'd hit Doylestown for the day. I couldn't wait!!!

• 22nd - Fulfilled a dream since childhood and went to Amy's farm to hold newly hatched baby chicks (and quails, too!). Ever since seeing Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale holding a wee lil' chicken in The Wizard of Oz I have wanted to hold a fuzzy yellow chickie. They hatched the morning of October 22nd and I left work early, drove two and a half hours and fell in love with every baby birdie I got to hold. (But especially Eyeliner.) BEST DAY EVER!

•  Spent Halloween week in Ohio, visiting with some of my favourite people in the galaxy. I'm so, so grateful that I got to say goodbye to Maureen. 

November

•  Spent all day with Jackson!! I tried to reach Jax through my mother-in-law the night before and, not surprisingly, he had her phone.

...

• Amy’s to deliver cookies and see their latest Squishmallows. These kids are obsessed. The fireplace one is my fave.

• Elf with Isabella 

December

• Learn that I'll soon have to say goodbye to Goldie in Fishtown. Honestly, if I like something, it is a guarantee that it will disappear into oblivion. My fave Philly eatery joins the graveyard with Waterloo Coconut, LesbiVeggies, Healthy Garden in Cwood, So Delicious chocolate coconut milk, Hampden Junque, Blackbird Pizza, Govinda's, Blazing Salads and Vish in Dublin, Arcadi in Brussels, and Murphy's Loft, among others. But thankfully I got Morgan and Janine's addresses and phone numbers so we can continue to stay in touch.

 

3rd - IG text from Morgan:

• Autumn's lovely family (minus Mariah who lives out-of-state. But there in proverbial spirit!) looking picture perfect as always!

• Lucy being all sorts of cute!

• 28th - Princeton with Bishop!

• 30th - Finally booking the flights to Europe with Bella. We originally were looking to do ten days spread across Positano, Collepino, and Antwerp. Well....it got so god damn complicated and hella expensive so I came up with Plan B, which would involve aborting Italy altogether and just going to Antwerp via Dublin. I always wanted to rent a car and drive around Tuscany, ever since I was seventeen/eighteen years old, but the stress of setting it all up and all the road blocks we hit - the cost for the flight just to Rome, one way, was almost a grand, then there were no flights out of PEG airport to Brussels, so we would have to take a three hour train back down to fly out of Rome - it became overwhelming and not worth the mental and physical exhaustion. So Bella and I will get ten hours (if there is no delay flying out of Philly) in Dublin, which really amounts to seven, which is more than enough time to catch a bus downtown, hit up Kingfisher's for chips with salt and vinegar, Retro for fun clothes shopping, take pix of Love Lane and Temple Bar's street art, and maybe even dash in to the Chester Beatty, before hopping in a cab back to the airport to head over to Brussels. 

• 31st - Picked up Janine and her adorable brother Noah, then popped in to say farewell to Goldie Fishtown and Morgan. She was so upset about this branch closing and losing all her coworkers, but I just know that great things are in store for her and for Janine. The highlight, aside from hugs!, was when Noah referred to me as his "regular-in-law". Too cute!

Noah, Janine, moi, and Morgan!

• Squigs is ready to ring in the new year. We are both hoping that 2026 is the polar opposite of the shitshow that was 2025.