Brennan's First Birthday 2/28/2010

Today my youngest grandson, Brennan James Zimny, turned one year old. I was once again present in the hospital room when Brennan was born. It took a long time for him to decide to leave the comfort of Lindsay's womb. Ironically, Brennan came into the world almost six weeks early and spent way too long in the NICU (neo-natal ICU) at Central DuPage Hospital. He had some difficulty feeding due to his being premature. It killed us to see the feeding tube in his little nose and watch the nurses "inject" his formula into the tube several times a day. He finally figured it out and they let him come home, much to our delight!

Prematurity is a funny thing. You come out early, but then you are delayed by your earliness. Brennan has had to endure wearing a helmet for his torticollis - a weakening of his neck muscles, causing him to favor one side which affected the shape of his head, hence the helmet. More irony - the helmet, which is supposed to help his head and face develop, has actually delayed his development - he is yet to crawl, or want to stand. He loves his bouncer seat and goes crazy in it.

More irony - Brennan was to be the star at his first birthday party today, but instead came down with the stomach flu, as his big brother did nearly six years ago on HIS first birthday. So, the party has been postponed a week. How is this ironic? If a baby wearing one of these helmets gets a fever, the helmet is to be removed for several days. During the helmet-less days Brennan CRAWLED for the first time! He has been rolling to get from point A to point B, because of the weight of that helmet, but
helmet-less he became mobile!

Brennan will get to have his "smash cake" for his first birthday, and his mommy and daddy will take photos of him doing it, but they will be doing it without anyone else present. The stomach flu has made their house a proverbial "virus pool" and no one wants to go near it! Annie got the flu, and John and Lindsay had some stomach unrest as well. The frivolity of a first birthday will have to wait for next weekend. I can't wait to celebrate this very special day in Brennie Boo's life. He is such a trooper!

When Life Gives You Lemons...Go to Galena!

Life can be so interesting. One minute you are up and the next you are down, down, down. For example, a few weeks back Artie told me we were going to Scottsdale, Arizona on a combined business/pleasure mini trip. He was to attend a conference and we were going to go early so we could do a rail trip to the Grand Canyon and visit Sedona. The other fun part of this trip was getting to visit with my niece, Gina, and her family who recently were relocated to Arizona. What made this more fun was that my mom has been visiting with Gina for several weeks and we were going to get to see her too. Well...that was not to be! The conference was canceled due to lack of attendees! This broke my heart. I brooded and pouted for two days. Then, I decided to get out of the "pity pool" and plan an impromptu weekend getaway!

I am an animal and nature lover, mainly because I love what I see through my camera lens. Not long ago I received an email from a friend that highlighted bald eagles nesting in Vancouver, and how some men actually feed the eagles every year about this time to encourage their nesting there. The eagles come back to nest in the same area each February. The photos on this email were amazing! Since I knew we couldn't get away to Vancouver a light bulb went off in my mind and I remembered viewing bald eagles in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. That got the wheels moving. I went online and searched for info about the majestic birds in Prairie du Chien. One thing led to another and I decided we would go to Galena, stay at our favorite place - The Inn at Irish Hollow - and use this as our base for going to Prairie du Chien. While wandering around the town of Galena we decided to check the Visitors' Information Center. The lady who greeted us told us we didn't have to drive all the way to Wisconsin to view the eagles, that Galena had many and they were not far away. She told us exactly where to go to see them - an old abandoned Army station (apparently where bombs and other explosives were made and tested). We took a drive to the site and since it was mid-afternoon had few expectations of seeing the eagles. We did see one mature one as it flew away because we scared it, and one "immature" one, whose photo is attached. I knew this particular bird was a young eagle since it did not yet have its white head. This bird was gracious enough to hang around to let me get some great shots of it. My heart was pounding in my chest I was so excited to be so close to this amazing bird.

This sighting inspired us to make an early morning trip back to the site the next day. Jackpot! We arrived shortly after 10 a.m. when the birds typically are feeding or working on their nests. We were able to see 10 eagles, and the highlight was to see a nesting pair perched together in one tree. Unfortunately they flew away before I could get a photo of them, but just seeing them so close to me was an experience I will remember for a long time to come.

Although it wasn't quite the warmth and ethereal beauty of Arizona, we saw beauty in another form. Winter in Galena is spectacular. The natural beauty of the rolling hills of northwestern Illinois takes on a different type of beauty when snow blankets it. Life gave us lemons, but we did make lemonade. Thank you, Galena, for taking us away and making us so happy. Thank you bald eagles for proving that you are worthy of being our national bird - so graceful, so majestic, and so beautiful.

I Feel the Earth Move Under My Feet

I am sure everyone knows we had an earthquake early this morning, 4 a.m. to be exact. This is usually the time my internal clock wakes me up day after day. This morning the quake roused my husband and I at the same time. We both sat up in our bed and just listened. I know that Artie was trying to get his sleepy wits about him while I was sure someone's house had blown up from a gas leak. Then there was a knock at our bedroom door. For a moment I went into a panic because in my sleepy stupor I had forgotten that our son lives with us again. I knew it wasn't robbers, because how many robbers knock? Danny was convinced it was an earthquake, while his father laid back down telling us it was a plow! I jumped up and Danny and I checked out the house and then looked out the front windows to see if any of our neighbors' homes had blown up. Since the noise stopped I felt relatively safe and went back to bed. I was tired enough not to worry about what I didn't know.

I got up around 6:00 and turned on the news. When the newscaster said we had experienced an earthquake and that its epicenter was literally down the road from our house I got scared! Who would have thought we'd have an earthquake after all? Suddenly memories of another quake came flashing back to me. It was my senior year at NIU when my bedroom started shaking, objects on dressers danced and fell off. My room mate and I both jumped into each other's arms and started screaming. Now, being the educated young people we were, what did WE think it was? GHOSTS! We were convinced our apartment was being haunted by some mean spirit or poltergeist (even if we didn't really know what one of those was). Our other two room mates came into our room and the four of us stayed up the rest of the night, unaware that it was an earthquake. Since DeKalb is not that far from today's quake's epicenter, it only made sense that the memory of that night came back to me. I wondered if my room mates thought about it too...

Winter-induced Attention Deficit Disorder

All of this dreadful winter weather, including the threat of 6 to 12 inches of snow today, has my mind on overdrive. Yet the funny thing is that I can't stay focused on any one thing for more than 15 minutes at a time. Is there such a thing as Winter-induced A.D.D.? I find myself chasing my proverbial tail when I am stuck inside the house as I am today. I don't think I can watch another episode of Martha Stewart doing yet another Valentines Day craft, post another Facebook comment, or get upset when the contestant doesn't do well on "Deal or No Deal". I have STACKS of books to read but I can't get into the mood to devote the time to reading. What is wrong with me? I have been cooking like a madwoman too! Am I turning into a housefrau in my retirement? Argghhhh! I hope not! What next - HOUSE DRESSES like my grandma used to wear?? Noooooooooooo!!!!!!

Being home more than I've been in 27 plus years I have seen way toooooo many commercials. One in particular drew the ire out of my Mediterranean blood. It is the one advertising foreclosed homes. It is a peppy, excitable commercial showing some sort of auction and suggesting that the bad economy can be good for YOU. All I think about when I see this is the poor family whose home has been foreclosed, and listening to a way-too-excited announcer tell people about the great deals they can get because of someone's misfortune. Shame on them. And, for those of you in the Chicago area, do any of you (besides me) want to find Peter Francis Geraci and punch him out? If he were the last lawyer/debt counselor on the planet he would not get my business. I will look for someone who doesn't have a girl's name for a middle name! Shark!

How about the furniture store that has people dancing around? Do they realize how stupid they look? These people are getting paid to look stupid. Maybe that should be my new gig - dancing on a Value City Furniture commercial.

Winter is making me crabby...

Amore

I am attaching a clip from one of my favorite blogs - Ciao Italia - again. There is a reason I am doing this. Her post brought back some awesome memories of our first trip to Italy, which included a visit to the Trevi Fountain in Rome. Here is the clip and my comments will follow:

"Cupid takes aim with his arrow this month febbraio (February), and love is in the air. Can you feel it? And while roses, sentiments, and chocolate occupy our minds and drain our wallets as we honor those we love and cherish, it is always Valentines Day in Italy; it just goes by another name, amore.

By nature, Italians are very affectionate people. Just look at the way they greet each other with a kiss not on one cheek but both. And passion is always a public display at outdoor ristoranti and in just about every piazza.

One of the best places to show affection, or dream of receiving it is at the Trevi Fountain in Rome (Fontana di Trevi). It was built in the 18th century and the central figure of the fountain is Neptune, the sea god. He rides a chariot in the shape of a shell that is pulled by sea horses.

Millions of visitors from all over the world converge at this massive marble masterpiece to throw coins into the fountain and wish away their secret desires. But if you go to see the fountain, make sure your wish comes true by tossing your coin in the proper manner. Legend tells us that you will return to Rome if you throw a coin over your shoulder with your back to the fountain. Now that’s amore."

Our first visit to Italy followed a week of visiting friends in the London area, and attending Danny's soccer tournament as well. Flashback 1995. We (me, Artie, Lindsay and Danny) enjoyed the crazy week of sightseeing through London, Bath, and other little hamlets, and attending soccer games. Following the tournament we caught the ferry across the English Channel to Calais, France. We were catching a tour that would cram sojourns to five countries in one week. We literally had to ask one another when we woke up what country we were in! Lindsay was 18 and pining away for her then boyfriend, and Danny had his 15th birthday while in Monaco. Neither of our kids appreciated the trip as much as Artie and I did. So, why the post on the Trevi Fountain? This was my first trip to Italy, the land of my ancestors, and I couldn't have been more excited. One of my "goals" was to be pinched - not pick-pocketed, the kind of pinch made by someone's fingers on your booty. As we visited various cities and towns in Italy I was disappointed that the pinch hadn't happened. Lindsay was pinched while visiting the Piazzo Navana and she was apalled, grossed out, disgusted. I told her to lighten up, that "when in Rome, do as the Romans do" as they say. My pinch still evaded me. But then it happened! While visiting the Trevi Fountain on a beautiful summer night in Rome a young Italian man pinched my bottom. I beamed from ear to ear. Mission accomplished!

One other memory of note at the Trevi Fountain was the traditional coin toss to ensure a return to Rome. None of the people on our tour knew exactly which shoulder to throw the coin over. We all laughed about it, but I, being the superstitious being that I am, really wanted to make sure a return to Rome was in my future. So, I tossed two coins - one over each shoulder. I have not been back to Rome...what did I do wrong?